Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diabetes Management discusses treatment for patients presenting with severe hypoglycemia. Backcountry guidelines state that for a patient that can swallow, 15 – 20 grams of sugar should be administered to the patient through oral administration. Most wilderness medical schools instruct students that best practice treatment for patients who are unable to swallow or are unresponsive is to place the patient in the recovery position. Mix 15 – 20 grams of sugar with just enough water to create a paste.  Using your gloved fingers, rub the sugar paste into the patient’s gums. 

You may find during the primary or secondary assessment that your patient has a Glucagon emergency injector kit which requires the caregiver to deliver an intramuscular injection to the patient. You should familiarize yourself with the instructions for use if you have a family member or you are leading an outdoor group where a member carries an emergency injector.

However, you may find the patient has a Glucagon intranasal delivery device. One that you may see currently advertising on television is Eli Lilly’s BAQSIMI™.  Lilly’s website states: “BAQSIMI is a prescription medicine used to treat very low blood sugar (severe hypoglycemia) in people with diabetes ages 4 years and above.” “BAQSIMI should be used when someone is having a low blood sugar emergency, where the person is unable to eat or drink and needs help from someone else.”

BAQSIMI is administered by inserting the applicator tip into one nostril and pressing the device plunger all the way in until the green line is no longer showing. The dose does not need to be inhaled.

Instruction for Use: PDF download and video instructions. 

For patient that is presenting with severe hypoglycemia, you should activate the EMS System and the patient requires immediate evacuation to the hospital.

The BAQSIMI and Got Your BAQ designs are trademarks of Eli Lilly and Company.

You’ve been looking for a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Certification Course and in your search you discovered:

• The closest Wilderness First Aid course is on a weekend you are not able to attend.
• The WFA course that does have open seats is a three-hour drive away.
• There are no courses available before you have to be certified.

The Virtual Wilderness First Aid Certification Course will give you a weekend back and allow you to earn your certification on your own terms.

Virtual training allows you to learn on your own schedule.  You don’t have to give up an entire weekend, drive hours to a course and pay for a hotel and meals.

Online WFA training reduces the frustration that all students feel. Information is being thrown at them so quickly that they feel like they are drinking from a firehose and attempting not to drown. In an online WFA course, you can view all the lectures and demonstrations and view them again if you like. You have the time to study handouts and bonus content downloadable throughout the course. Online WFA training reduces stress and anxiety.

The Virtual Wilderness First Aid Certification Course meets the Wilderness Medical Society Guidelines. All thirty-three lectures and demonstrations are available to view and review. Additionally, bonus content is downloadable throughout the course. Plus, you benefit from a teaching method that illustrates patient assessment and care, making it easier to retain what you learn during your two-year certification.

Learn more about online Wilderness First Aid here.