Once the Jamboree ended, the Wilderness Medicine participants did their final scenario exercise. This event tied together many of the skills that they had acquired. The scenario involved two female patients from an ATV accident who were over a 35-foot cliff and lying in a creek bed. The objective was for the participants to set up ropes; rappel down to the victims; assess; stabilize, and immobilize them; lash them into a Stokes basket; and use a rope hauling system to raise them to the top of the cliff. They were then to evacuate them to an open field, set up a landing zone, and bring in a medical helicopter to fly them from the scene. This was a challenging experience for the students and residents, as they had no prior rescue or EMS background, but they executed their rescue plan very well and did a good job with the management of the patients.

The participants had a great and unique experience in preparing for and providing medical care at this mass gathering of nearly 40,000 scouts and Jamboree staff in an environment with limited medical resources. I believe it is likely that some of the participants from this year and in the rotations to come will choose to return to serve at medical staff at the Jamboree, now that they have had this exposure. For me, it served as probably the largest project and greatest success of my career in EM. I am looking forward to organizing and offering this elective rotation on a yearly basis.

I am deeply indebted to my lecture and workshop faculty and to my partners at EMP of Ohio County for their support.