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Diploma in Mountain Medicine & Certificate in Mountain Medicine

Be prepared to be a part of the most exciting mountain medical training course to ever be offered by the UNM School of Medicine, EMS Academy. The Austere and Mountain Medicine programs are a must for any outdoor enthusiast, guide or internationally bound medical professional. Your classroom will include on-site instruction in the rural mountains around New Mexico where you will learn first-hand how to respond and treat any emergency in an austere environment. Instructors are Paramedics, Physicians and Physician Assistants with remote medicine, mountain rescue, mountain guiding, military medicine and educational experience. They will take you through various emergency scenarios and detailed lectures that are guaranteed to provide you with all the necessary mountain medicine skills.

As detailed below, the program coursework is divided into two semesters and amounts to a total of 15 UNM credit hours. Upon completion of the entire program, candidates are awarded a Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) endorsed by the UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, ICAR (International Commission for Alpine Rescue), and ISMM (International Society for Mountain Medicine). The UNM School of Medicine, EMS Academy recently received full international accreditation from the above organizations, making the institution one of two programs in the United States, and one of 23 programs in the world, to award students this prestigious level of certification.

Applicants for this program must be currently certified Paramedics, Nurses or Physicians. Bachelors of Science students in EMS pursing the Austere and Mountain Medicine degree track will take these courses during their senior year. Students hoping to receive the DiMM Certification must take the Austere Medicine, Mountain Medicine, and Strike Rescue Level 1 courses. Students may elect to take just one of the courses, but will not be eligible for a DiMM Certification.

AUSTERE MEDICINE

3 Credit Hours Lecture-Fall Semester

A course led by experienced ER and Mountain Physicians, students learn about management of medical and traumatic conditions under Austere conditions: Low resources, little or no back-up, prolonged contact and expanded responsibility of patient care. We consider present recommendations in medical literature, and students will evaluate the strength of those recommendations. Adaptive, expedient thinking will also be stressed and cultivated, producing educated and efficient practitioners prepared to provide care in variable medical settings. Students will develop specialized assessment skills and learn improvisational techniques relevant to medical practice in mountainous, third world, rural and disaster environments.

Topics include: Travel and Tropical Medicine, Austere Airway, Remote and Extended Wound Care, Disaster Response etc.

Pre-requisites: Paramedic, Nursing or Physician Licensure, and relevant experience in outdoor environments

Co-requisites: Mountain Medicine Lecture and Lab

MOUNTAIN MEDICINE

3 Credit Hours Lecture + 3 Credit Hours Lab- Fall Semester

It is a goal of the UNM EMS Academy to develop courses that are on the cutting edge of Mountain Medicine. This unique Mountain Medicine course is modeled after the UNM School of Medicine, Wilderness International Improvisational Medical School rotation that takes place every March throughout New Mexico for 4th year Medical Students and Residents. This course is intended for medical professionals who participate in mountain recreation or are mountain professionals such as guides or Mountain Rescue personnel with a current Physician, Paramedic or Nursing license. This course is intended to prepare participants to be self sufficient in austere and mountain environments, so they can effectively coordinate and perform rescue and medical care. This course is highly practical and scenario based and sessions are held rain or shine, encouraging the development of skills in environments that mimic typical austere and mountain medical work. Topics include: Personal Survival Techniques, Land and Cave Navigation, Rescue Operations, avalanche awareness and rescue, etc.

Pre requisites: Paramedic, Nursing or Physician Licensure, and relevant experience in outdoor environments

Co-requisites: Mountain Medicine Lecture and Lab

STRIKE RESCUE LEVEL 1 TECHNICAL RESCUE

3 Credit Hours Lecture + 3 Credit Hours Lab- Spring Semester

SR and the EMS Academy are partnering to provide university semester based terrestrial rope rescue courses for certificate and degree students. This course is intended for BS students completing the Austere and Mountain Medicine degree track and also for medical professionals (Physicians, Paramedics and Nurses) who participate in mountain recreation or are mountain professionals such as guides or Mountain Rescue personnel. This course will take place over a 16-week period and will include lecture, discussion, and hands on experience to include skill/scenario stations in a mountain setting (summer and winter environments). This coursework emphasizes technical rope work application to mountain, cave, fire and industrial rescue. Students will leave this course with a deep understanding of rope and rigging systems, system components and the execution of technical rope rescue. An extremely well qualified faculty, with professional experience that includes Paramedics, Physicians, Physician Assistants, Internationally Certified Mountain Guides, and PhD Qualified Physicists, provides and maintains an expansive knowledgebase that underlies course curriculum. Students who successfully complete this coursework will receive NFPA Technician Level II certification.

Topics Include: Personal Safety in the Vertical World, Summer and Winter Mountaineering Techniques, Low and High Angle Rescue Systems, Complex Mechanical Advantage, Guideline and Highline Rescue Techniques, etc.

Pre requisites: Paramedic, Nursing or Physician Licensure, and relevant experience in outdoor environments

Co-requisites: None

Please contact abruzzod@salud.unm.edu with any questions regarding the UNM EMS Academy, Austere and Mountain Medicine Program