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With the help of the British Mountain Medicine Society and UCLan, we have recently launched a series of twelve posts designed to help those searching for mountain medicine CPD.

Each month we're planning to publish a post that will be packed full of mountain medicine CPD ideas - whether they're face-to-face courses, webinars or all manner of text, audio and video materials. We'll also include ideas on how to brush up on practical skills. So if you're involved in delivering mountain medicine why not subscribe to the blog and receive these posts as soon as they're published?

Each topic is mapped to the Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) syllabus. For more information about recording your CPD take a look at this.

The start of our mountain medicine CPD series can be found here.

Meanwhile, here's three more topics to get you thinking...

I thought I'd start with people and in particular those who live their lives in the mountain environment. For most of us, the hills are places where we go to escape the pressures of day-to-day life. But what if day-to-day life is in the mountains? What are the challenges and how do people overcome them? Recently UKClimbing have posted articles by Keri Wallace, Adrian Trendall and Nicholas Livesey that are all well worth a read. For the next couple of weeks the The Hermit Of Treig is available on the BBC IPlayer. This film won the Grand Prize at the 2022 Kendal Film festival and tells the story of Ken Smith and the fifty or so years he has lived beside a remote Scottish loch. With a walk of more than 25 miles to the nearest post office Ken has lived a solitary life that many of us can barely contemplate.

Mountain Medicine CPD - (14) Weather

Mountain Medicine CPD (16) Stress management

Mountain Medicine CPD (17) Information technology in the mountains

Mountain Medicine CPD (27) Mountain rescue

At this time of year there's nowhere better to swim than in the mountain lakes, llyns and lochs of the UK. Why not combine them with a good walk? Have you tried the Frog Graham Round ? Puddle Buckley Round ? Ring of Stirling ? All are good adventures!*

Let's head a bit higher and take a look at some high altitude resources. If you like your facts this first one is for you! High Altitude Medicine and Biology (HAMB) have recently published a novel study that metaphorically locked an expert panel in a room and forced them to come up with the minimum knowledge that a visitor needs to safely ascent to altitude. The 28 facts they all agreed on can be found here.

When we encounter breathlessness at high altitude we tend to put it down to poor acclimatisation, or in some cases, High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. But in some it's neither and therefore it's always worth considering a wider differential diagnosis - especially if the signs and symptoms don't quite fit. Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a diagnosis that is often missed in hospitals, never mind on the mountain slopes. This article in HAMB is a useful reminder that the diagnosis of PE is always worth considering in a breathless patient at high altitude - especially if improvements are not seen following descent.

One last recommendation on the theme of high altitude medicine - in a recent edition of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Marieke Dekker and her colleagues provide us with a really poignant snapshot of the high altitude illnesses that present to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre. Despite rapid evacuation and appropriate treatment, deaths from HAI's still occur on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Clearly much more education is still needed.

Mountain Medicine CPD - (2) Altitude and its illnesses.

August is also a good time for rock climbing in the mountains. Why not take inspiration from Ken Wilson and try some of the brilliant "Classic Rock" routes in the Lakes? If you're feeling ambitious why not combine them into a single journey - The Lake District Classic Rock Challenge!*

Finally, a little more on climbing. If you haven't heard of it I'd strongly recommend the Climbing on the Bookshelf podcast. In particular, take a moment to listen to the interview with John Middendorf. For many years John has documented the many ways in which different pieces of climbing equipment have evolved. A good place to start is his history of ice tools. Another very good website is that belonging to Mike Parsons. As founder of Karrimor and OMM no one is better qualified to describe the many stories behind the historical developments in outdoor clothing and equipment. Here's a warning - be prepared to lose yourself for several hours in these websites!

One final recommendation for the crag rats - winner of the People's Choice Award at the 2022 Kendal Film Festival - The Last Forgotten Art

Mountain Medicine CPD - (21) Personal first aid kit and mountaineering equipment.

If you're looking for an online course that can provide you with all the medical information you need for trips to high altitude take a look at this!

For Mountain Medicine CPD Part 5 click here.

Thanks for reading this post. If this is your thing why don't you take a look at other posts on the blog? Better still, why not join the British Mountain Medicine Society? More information can be found here

For more information about the University of Central Lancashire's Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) take a look at this.

*Mountain Medicine CPD - (22) Mountaineering techniques in summer and winter.

Mountain Medicine CPD - (23) Navigation and survival techniques in hostile weather in the mountains.