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Anaphylaxis

Written by Henry
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
This is an interesting article written by Andree Kuypers regarding the condition known as Anaphylaxis or Anaphylatic Shock. It offers us some sound advice on how to manage a patient we suspect of having an Anaphylactic reaction and has principles that can be applied to the outdoor environment.
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Written by Henry
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Welcome! Peak Safety has been providing safety solutions to the Outdoor industry for over 25 years. We pride ourselves on creating new and valuable products while ensuring a fun and interesting learning environment on our courses. From Event Safety to First Aid Courses, Film Safety to Safety Plan Writing and Audits, the crew at Peak Safety use their experience delivering Hazard Management in the Outdoors to ensure a quality of service that meets the needs of the industry. Thankyou for visiting our website. For your interest we have attached below a number of articles relating to outdoor emergency medicine. Have a look around at what we offer and feel free to to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions. Go Well.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 October 2009 )

Cold Injuries

Written by Budgie
Friday, 26 June 2009
The State of Alaska Cold Injuries Guidelines have been developed for use by prehospital, clinic and hospital personnel dealing with cold injuries in Alaska. The guidelines are not absolute rules, governing the treatment of hypothermia, cold water near drowning, frostbite and avalanche burial.
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Seizure Management

Written by Henry
Thursday, 07 May 2009
Seizure Management Here are a few things you can do to help someone who is having a seizure of any kind: When encountering someone having a seizure many people feel ill-equipped in handling this circumstance. They forget that they already have within their possession one essential tool- common sense. The following tips below are simple, common-sense steps to take when responding to a person having a seizure.
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Paddling Injuries

Written by Henry
Monday, 20 April 2009
Paddling Injuries by Paul E. Plumer, WEMT, NREMT-P Wrists, elbows, and shoulders are particularly susceptible to injury in both whitewater and flatwater boating. When body movement goes beyond the normal range of motion (ROM) permitted by our anatomy, pain and disability are sure to follow. Lucky for us that they do—these governors on excess help us to recover and paddle another day. Whether the problem derives from a use/use pattern of exercise (repetitive, relatively constant training or recreating) or from a disuse/use pattern (the weekend warrior phenomenon), overuse is usually the culprit. Contributing factors to the likelihood of injury include the individual’s level of musculoskeletal fitness, state of nutritional health, and judgment with respect to his or her own limitations.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 April 2009 )
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Drowning Physiology

Written by Henry
Monday, 20 April 2009
Drowning Physiology After the Rescue by Paul Daniels, M. S. Madison, Wisconsin School Community Recreation In America drowning is the third largest cause of accidental death, involving over 7,000 victims annually. Many of these fatalities could be prevented with proper rescue and follow-up life support procedures. It is important that recreation professionals and other persons responsible for aquatics programs understand the basic physiological threats present during and following drowning situations. Not all drowning victims literally inhale water into their lungs. The extreme sensitivity of upper airway passages often causes a laryngeal spasm, sealing off and preventing water from entering the lungs. These spasms lead to dry drowning. Victims of dry drowning often respond to artificial ventilation without further complications if the symptoms are identified and reached soon enough, generally within one to two minutes of submersion. Wet drowning occurs when water is inhaled past the larynx into the lungs, severely complicating rescue and life support procedures. This situation has been reported to occur in 90% of all drownings, although results of related research vary to a great degree.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 April 2009 )
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Event Safety

Written by Henry

Tuesday, 07 April 2009

The Peak safety team were onsight at the 'Western Heights Invitational Tournament' in Rotorua on the weekend.

The intensity of the competition had one of our Medics eagerly waiting on the rugby side line, for a chance to don some sprigs & join in. Fortunatly for us all that didn't happen. These guys play hard and the injuries proved it.

Our on sight medics dealt with several suspected spinal injuries, a ruptured knee, a broken nose, head injuries as well as sprains and strains. Most injuries were able to be assessed and treated onsight.

A busy day for our team, but great to see our future sporting heroes in action.

Facts about blood

Written by Henry
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Top 10 blood facts Your blood. You hardly ever see it. Yet, it is the very thing that keeps you going. Check how many of the following facts you knew. Think about them next time you cut a finger or need a blood transfusion. * The average adult man has about five to six litres of blood in his body, while the average woman has about four. * Your blood makes up about 7% of your total body weight. * About 95% of the body’s blood cells are made in bone marrow. * There are approximately 1 billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood. * There are three types of blood cells: Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, all of which float around in plasma. The blood that you donate can be separated into these constituent parts. * Your body usually replaces the volume of the blood you donate within 24 hours. Restoring red blood cell levels to normal can take up to two months though. * Whole blood has a shelf-life of 35 days. Red blood cells last 42 days, platelets only five days and plasma up to one year. * The most common blood type is O positive, while AB negative is the rarest. People with AB blood can receive any kind of blood from a donor, while O negative blood can be given to anyone. * Scientists recently managed to change type A and B blood into type O. If this process can one day be done on a large scale, it would go a long way to alleviating the persistent shortage of blood. * If you are healthy, you will be eligible to donate blood up to 330 times in your life. Sources: * American Red Cross http://chapters.redcross.org/br/northernohio/INFO/facts.html * BloodCentres.org http://www.bloodcentres.org/aboutblood/bloodfacts.htm * Western Province Blood Donation Service http://www.blood.org.za/donorgeneral.html
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 April 2009 )

Pre hospital Emergency care refresher (2 days)

Written by Henry
Tuesday, 07 April 2009
The Peak Safety team have just been in Auckland running our 2 day Phec refresher at the Akarana yacht club. Student were put through their paces both in the class room and out facing scenarios amongst boats and yachts. Onlookers could have been forgiven for thinking that someones weekend outing had gone terribly wrong, as students got totally involved with the problem solving and care of their patients. THere is a lot of information in the 5 day pre hospital emergency care course and the refresher is a real reminder of how much you learn on that course and what you may have forgotten. For those of you that missed this course we have other dates scheduled throughout the year. The next being down at Mount Ruapehu in May. Please see upcoming courses for more details. It would be great to see you there.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 April 2009 )

Taupo Iron Man

Written by Henry

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Peak Safety offer a complete event safety management service and were recently involved with the auditing of the safety plan for the Taupo Iron Man.

While most of this work is carried out prior to the event, the team were onsight throughout the race day, to ensure that the safety standards were being met. Being onsight on the race day enabled us to give organisers a 'heads up' if any changes or improvements should be made.

It was also an opportunity to watch some amazing athletes in action. There were some inspirational stories that came out of the day and we look forward to the next one.

Film Safety

Written by Henry

Monday, 09 March 2009

Peak Safety has just had an interesting week in Febuary working on another film set in Te Aroha. This time it was for a German TV movie which was strangely set in New Zealand.

Film safety is not the biggest part of the business but continues to grow steadily and provides an interesting change to the otherside of the business.

On this job the film set was very safe with a fairly low level of risk present throughout the shoot. Traffic management was probably the biggest issue which was interesting in the middle of Te Aroha town.

Film Safety consists mainly of hazard iddentification and risk management but as well as that we provide medical cover should anyone hurt themselves. Often we end up becoming a local chemist as many of the film crew have existing ailments that need caring for.

We had a great week watching the film being made and met some great people.

Pre Hospital Emergency Care

Written by Henry

Monday, 09 March 2009

Another awesome week on the Te Roro Te Rangi Marae in Rotorua in Febuary. Peak Safety ran a PreHospital Emergency Care couse and a PreHospital Emergency Care refresher during the week and managed to get out and about into the bush to put the classroom theory into a practical setting.

The PHEC course is certainly a big tax on the old brain but everyone coped well and passed the course with ease. Feedback suggests that the pre course PHEC assignment, the mid week assignment and the exam were all valuable learning tools as were the graphic video sections.

The last 2 days of the course saw several students join the group for a PreHospital Emergency Care refresher. They were immediately thrust into the hot seat and into a good scenario involving a mini eruption.

Included in the couse for the first time were some advanced airway management techniques as well as Intra Muscular Injection practices and a suturing demo. The usual course content was still there with a special emphasis on the Outdoor First Aid specific injuries and medical conditions.

Thanks to all who attended and we hope to catch you all out there on your adventures.

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