Medical Emergencies while boondocking?

[Canine]

Let's say in places like Quartzite, what happens if someone has a medical emergency?  Or in other boondocking areas? Off the path state parks?   I have an emergency pendent that tracks my location but how does it work if I'm in a place like Quartzite? Is there a Paramedic crew and/or medical flight crew? How does it work when boondocking? 

thank you. :

 

[Canine]

Sorry to ask so many questions.

 

[Blanch]

I am disabled with some medical issues that are sometimes emergencies. I am a full timer and travel alone ( if you don't count my two dogs). I have what could be considered a small pharmacy with me. I have a BP cuff and stethoscope and I know how to use them. I have a blood glucose meter and O2 sat finger clip. I have a nebulizer. My doctor has allowed me to carry emergency medication so I can self rescue. I also carry a three month supply of my daily medications.

I had an emergency a little over a week ago. Someone stole my generator. Without my generator I cannot run my nebulizer. I had to return to NorCal before it became a medical emergency. I learn from every mistake and ordered a battery operated nebulizer.

So, emergencies can happen. Quartzite has Blythe near by with a hospital as well as Parker. I always look to see where a hospital and urgent care are located.

Be prepared, know your medical situation and be prepared to self rescue.

Also, know your GPS coordinates so you can call for help and give your exact location.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cyndi]

This thread below may help to answer your questions. But if you've already purchased a tracking device I'd call the company and ask them

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Emergency-Communication

 

[bullfrog]

In southern Utah which is about as remote as you can get in the 48 states, Glen Canyon Rec Area has a clinic which is open on Fridays 8 months of the year because the doctor is also a pilot and flies in. Most National Parks try to have at least one ranger who is a paramedic but not all do. Classic Air covers most life flights with both fixed and helicopter rescue aircraft. If you can stay alive the hour and half it takes them to get here they almost always can stabilize you and live. They pretty much cover the area from Flagstaff Arizona to Saint George Utah to Salt Lake City Utah to Grand Junction Colorado. It cost $20,000 to $25,000 for a life supported flight but you can by a yearly membership for your whole family for less than $100 which covers all flights, this is what we do after paying $7,000 to find out our son had a kidney stone attack several years ago! Many times getting to somewhere at which you can get communication to emergency services is the most time consuming as these brave pilots have done pickups from places you wouldn't believe. This part of the country I have seen people drive 4 hours while thinking they might be having a heart attack or cracked or broken bones because they didn't have the membership, crazy.

 

[Canine]

Wow, what great information you guys/gals. Do you have the link to Classic Air? I can only find a local "Class Air." online

 

[firebob]

Do you know if it runs on the SARSAT / PLB system, dose it use satellite message system with GPS, or a cellular biased?  

If it uses SARSAT.  If NOAA picked it up they would call AFRCC.  Once it gets triangulated they would call the state and local emergence response to tell them where it's at and to see what kind of help they need.
In 2000 there was a PLB set off in our county.  They were able to triangulate to about 5 sq miles and there were only 3 tracking units in all the county to pin point the location.  I took 5 hours to find and get the person out of the woods.

The satellite message system will have a dead spots.  If it's able to find 3 satellites it will send the location with the message.  Most of them have under 5 messages they can send.  How ever received the message would pass the information to the state and would be passed down to the local level.

There are so many places that a cellular system would not work.  Depending on the system you need more than 1 tower to get a good location.

Depending on what resources are available would depend on what help you got.
There are still a lot of places that are all volunteer and most likely you'll end up with basic EMT's and then call for a chopper if needed once they find you.
I was an EMT from 1999 to 2004.  Our call area was 55 to 90 minutes to the level 1 trauma center.  The closer hospital was 30 to 70 minutes, but took no trauma at all.  From the time the tones went off, got out of bed, pee, dressed, drove to the fire house, and get the first unit out the door could be 5 to 10 minutes.  From the time the tones went off till you got to the hospital you could be looking at 2 hours...
Our dispatch would call to see if there was a chopper able to fly and put them on stand by depending on the call.  When we saw what we were dealing with and asked for it you would still take 20 minutes to get to us.  In our 60 sq mile run area there were only 6 places we could get a chopper to land and once you got there you would have set up a landing spot.

 

[bullfrog]

Wow, what great information you guys/gals.   Do you have the link to Classic Air?  I can only find a local "Class Air."  online

They are based out of the airport at Page Arizona I will get a phone number latter this evening and post.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

re boondocking: I don't have any major medical issues but I am old(er than dirt).  Because I go places that are hard to get to and at my families request I carry a Garmin inReach personal emergency beacon   https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/   Like firebob said, this isn't rapid response, but it is comforting to know that someone knows you are in trouble and is doing something about it.  I can also talk via text with SAR and explain my situation, if i'm able.  The text message contains a map with GPS location that can be zoomed in to a Google Earth shot of the location.  I can also text my family every day and tell them I am OK (with same map and location).  (firebob: this runs off the Irridiium satellite network, has worldwide coverage and uses GPS positioning.)  I also carry rescue insurance (2X $50,000) in case I need to be medivac'd.

I also have a cell booster (weBoost 4G-M) that gives me a usable cell signal in a surprising number of places.

 -- Spiff

 

[akrvbob]

Most areas have a county fire station nearby and they are almost always EMTs. So if you call 911, an EMT will be on the way in Quartzsite.

At Ehrenberg, which is even more remote than Quartzsite, twice we had people call 911 and EMTs from the local Ehrenberg fire station come out really fast. They were super helpful and acted like they were grateful for the chance to do something!

Ehrenberg is a tiny, non-existent town but it's part of the county and the county has fire stations and EMTs for its residents.

 

[bullfrog]

They are based out of the airport at Page Arizona I will get a phone number latter this evening and post.

Classic Air Medical 1-800-444-9220

 

[Canine]

Thank you everyone! Such outstanding information. I'm impressed! Luckily I am a retired Paramedic and RT, so I've got extensive trauma and ER experience but I can only do so much for myself in case of an emergency so I'm so glad to know these services and resources are available. You know I'm not sure about my emergency pendant and how it works-now I'll certainly have to look into it and it's usefulness during boondocking. I pay 40 bucks a month for it so it better find me. LOL

Thank you, thank you thank you.

 

[firebob]

Hopeful
You can get a gps biased locator with text for $40.00 a month. I was just looking at the link that Spiff posted ( https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/ ) and it looks like they have upgraded the text system. I did not read it all on how they now work for emergency.

 

[DuneElliot]

When I'm backpacking solo I carry my DeLorme (now Garmin) InReach device for emergencies. I usually only activate the service it during the hiking months when I need it, but when I start RVing solo I will leave it activated all the time since I will (hopefully) be hiking year round and boondocking in plenty of places that don't have cell phone service. It's not been needed yet but I'll be thankful that I have it if I ever do.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

You could get a satellite phone. They aren't that expensive anymore, well expensive to use as they charge by the minute but in an emergency a few bucks a minute would be well worth it.

My grandfather had a stroke on a sight seeing ferry in Alaska. They were able to lift him into a helicopter fly to airport then put him in plane to Seattle. This was in the early 90's and I remember my grandmother saying her husband was the biggest pain in the ass, that the trip cost them 50k and it got cut short, I do believe she was in fact bitter and not joking!

 

[DannyB1954]

There are insurance policies that one can buy for medical evacuation.
http://www.usairambulance.net/index.php
https://reachair.com/
http://www.airambulanceratings.com/

 

[johnny b]

Here's the website for Classic Air Medical:

http://www.classicairmedical.com/

 

[towhee]

I have friends using the garmin inreach locator which can send and receive texts. They are sailing towards the South Pacific right now. 

In case you would like to see it in action here's their link. 

https://share.garmin.com/Minimus

And here's the blog they wrote about their prep for sailing. Lots of van dweller overlap. 

http://voyageofminimus.blogspot.com/p/the-boat.html?m=1

 

[TrainChaser]

When you're out in the boondocks routinely, it might be a good idea to know ahead of time how far the most-local Emergency Room is. From Quartzsite and Ehrenberg, I think it's Blythe -- but is crossing a state line any kind of problem, by ground or air?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

On a closely related note, an article on the growing problem of false alarms calling out Search and Rescue Teams and Air Evacuation Helicopters.

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2015-4-july-august/feature/danger-life-saving-device