Personal first aid kit for trekking to Everest

A hike in the highlands requires quite a lot use of medications. Of course, the instructor will have a huge one a group first aid kit (about one and a half kilograms), but even these supplies can not enough Therefore, each participant of the trekking to the Base Camp Everest should have an individual first aid kit. Here is her approximate one composition:

• Diacarb
• Ibuprofen
• Pancreatin
• Sunscreen cream
• Hygienic lipstick
• Hand sanitizer
• Handkerchief or napkins
• Tablets "from the throat"
• Vitamin C
• Medical insurance
• Sleeping pills
• Eye drops

Of course, in addition to the means listed above, you can and should take others medicine First of all, it should be your medicine specific diseases. After all, at high altitude, the body feels enormous stress, which causes chronic sores to wake up very quickly. In addition, you can take your usual, favorite medicines. What are you usually like? treat colds, pains, disorders.

Even if you try not to abuse medicines and do not take any of them at home, this is still no reason not to take medicines in the Himalayas. A significant proportion of tourists do not reach Everest and are evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu. Sometimes it looks like a military operation. And in my opinion, in the fight against altitude, it is important to use every chance to help the body. Including - to support it pharmacologically.

Now let's take a closer look at what we recommended:

Sunscreen cream

At altitude, the sun doesn't just burn - it burns through. even used to Sherpas go to the mountain sun with burnt faces. And the new arrivals "Pale-faced" Nepalese ultraviolet light can turn them into smokers coal Starting from a height of about 3000 meters, you need to apply sunscreen cream, even if it's gloomy outside. And if you have access to snow on a sunny afternoon, then precautions should be taken extraordinary

Personally, I take a small tube of cream with a protective factor on the trek to Everest SPF 100. Yes, they exist! There are even creams with an SPF of more than a hundred. A small tube of 80 ml with a head is enough for every day smear face and hands. And no other parts of the body at high altitude I try not to show the sun.

Hygienic lipstick

Lips, especially susceptible to the action of mountain ultraviolet. If not take action, then they will crack in the most terrible way and you will not be able not to only to smile, but also to curse out loud. And you will want to shit)))

I will tell you that smearing your lips with sunscreen (which is for the skin) inconvenient More precisely, it is terribly tasteless - the cream tastes like gouache (bleach zinc). Therefore, it is better to immediately leave the experiments and before going to Nepal to buy lipstick.

Men!! This also applies to you. Don't be shy about the lipstick. myself I use a semi-liquid lip balm in a tube. It tastes better and his easier to apply on chapped lips.

Ibuprofen

I suggest using ibuprofen as a headache remedy caused by mountain sickness. It is sold in Namche Bazaar (the capital Sherpas), when you ask for "something from the head". And there, I think, they know a lot about headaches And the experience of treating our tourists shows that ibuprofen more often than other means (citramon, analgin ...) helped with headaches height

How many pills will you need? Nobody knows. But just in case take about 20 pieces. This is exactly 2 tablets per day of height (in the morning and before bed).

Do not ignore the purchase of funds from the head, even if you have never in your life you didn't have a headache and you have no idea what it is. mountains able to present many new impressions))

Throat tablets

High mountain air is dry and cold. To compensate for the deficiency oxygen has to be breathed intensively even at rest. As a result of these two factors, as well as due to the general weakening of the immunity of tourists at altitudes above 4000m, they are almost permanently in a state of lightness colds - sore throat, painful cough, runny nose. On the approaches to Basic camp (altitude over 5,000 m) the shelters are more like tuberculosis shelters dispensaries - the terrible cough of hundreds of tourists shakes around the clock plywood walls. Even a special term was invented - "Khumbu cough". I in order to ease your suffering at least a little, I advise you to stock up like this called "throat tablets". I usually take one record at a time Strepsils, Dekatylen and Islaminta, and then alternate them randomly of order You have to have some fun :)

Vitamin C

With live vitamins on the route to the base camp of Everest, to put it mildly, no very Tangerines here cost $1 a piece. Apples are even more expensive. salads are extremely rare and cost about $4 per serving. Food is here Mostly heat treated. So that at least somehow compensate for the lack of fresh products and support the body in the fight with oxygen starvation, take vitamin C with you. Well, drink the course multivitamins before the start.

Pancreatin

At high altitude, any activity requires enormous effort and mass resources. And even such a simple thing as digesting food becomes a serious task. For digestion, your body needs a huge amount of oxygen and this oxygen will not fall on you from the sky, but will be taken from muscles and brain.
But taking digestive enzymes (such as pancreatin or Mezim) able to significantly facilitate and accelerate the process of annihilation of food. on at altitudes above 3,400, I accompany each intake with a "pancreatin 8,000" tablet food It especially helps after dinner, when there is no opportunity for a long time sit down, and you need to quickly put on your backpack and continue moving along route For dinner, however, enzymes will also come in handy - portions of the main ones dishes (rice, pasta, potatoes) here are huge and without enzymes, "heaviness in stomach "can drag on all night.

Handkerchief or napkins

Due to the dry mountain air, the mucous membranes of the nose are in constant state stress and your nose will jump from one extreme to the other - then dry up, then flow into two streams. Take napkins or anticipate an additional reserve of toilet paper for blowing your nose.

disinfecting hand tool

Regular use of alcohol spray or hand gel a little will reduce the likelihood of "stomach problems". Remember to wash your hands at the top parts of the route are usually nowhere. And the risk is great - any upset stomach sharply reduces the ability and desire to walk. And if you are lucky enough to catch it amoeba and giardia, then without antibiotics you can completely go off the route.

Diacarb

Diakarb (known abroad as Diamox) is taken for prevention mountain sickness It has a diuretic effect and does not give excess water accumulate in the cells of the brain and lungs (the consequence of which can be edema and death). Someone starts taking diakarb almost not in Kathmandu, but I I consider it superfluous (at night I can't sleep well without it). I think that it is quite enough to start taking diacarb after an altitude of 3200 meters. It is possible, perhaps start with half a pill at night. Then, after 4200, switch to 1 a pill at night. In general, you need 1-2 records per person for the entire track. himself I actually don't take diakarb - I prefer to drink tea instead karkade - it also has a noticeable diuretic effect.

Asparkam

Diuretic diacarb expels not only excess water from the body, but also salt is absolutely necessary. Asparkam is needed to restore balance.

Medical insurance

insurance - the most important component of a personal first aid kit, pay maximum attention to it. You cannot participate in the trek to Everest Base Camp without insurance! You have there must be such insurance that guarantees evacuation by helicopter. V the policy must indicate the appropriate type of recreation - "active recreation", "Extreme tourism" or something similar. Do not think that because you are young and sports, you don't need helicopters. No one (not even the instructor) does insured against exacerbation of mountain sickness and in this case the only one a reliable way to escape (yes, we are talking about mortal danger) is to fly to by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu. Be sure to show before starting the track your insurance policy to the instructor to take a photo of it or copied Then he will be able to call you a helicopter, even if you are without one consciousness

Mildronate

Mildronate contains meldonium - this is the same doping that caused it many sports scandals a couple of years ago. He adds strength due to the fact that which helps anaerobic (oxygen-free) extraction of energy from reserves body In such trips, the usual dose is 500 mg per day - i.e. 2 capsules per day.  At altitudes above 4000 meters, I usually I take 1 tablet in the morning before going on the route (to give strength), and I eat the second one in the evening, immediately after arriving at the camp (in order to have time to recover more or less even before the cut-off). Below 4000 to eat or not to eat meldonium I decide based on my health (by default I don't eat).

Hypoxia

Another miracle drug supposedly helps to supply the body oxygen It is quite expensive, so it is difficult to find it on sale when it suddenly seemed to me (I could easily be mistaken) that it was from hypoxia my well-being has slightly worsened, not improved, then I am happy took it as a signal and stopped drinking hypoxia.

Sleeping pills

Sleep disorders are very common at altitude. Typical story: You go to bed at 9 p.m., then wake up at 1 a.m. and that's it - you can't fall asleep until the morning (that is, before 6: 00). You are disturbed by the cough of your neighbors (Get earplugs!!), your own frantic pulse, bad thoughts and the weird state of mind There is an opinion that it can help in such a situation Donormil or other "soft" sleeping pills. I myself do not use them - I fall asleep with the help of audio books.

Eye drops

If you wear contact lenses, be sure to bring regular glasses and eye drops. The fact is that the surface of the eye often gets inflamed at altitude, and then wearing lenses turns into torture.

Visnovok

The list of drugs given in this article does not fully apply only to the trek to Everest Base Camp, but also to other high altitudes routes in Nepal: trekking around Annapurna, easy climbing (Mira Peak and Island Peak), treks around Manaslu and Dhaulagiri. If talk about trekking to the Annapurna Base Camp, then staying there for at an altitude of more than 4,000 it lasts only 1 day and the medicine can be taken 3 times less

Importantly:   I am not a doctor or a pharmacist and this the article is nothing more than food for thought. In addition, I have it available a very old and constantly reinforced altitude adaptation (I spend in highlands for at least 3 months a year) - that is, my body is already used to lack of oxygen and therefore I can afford to worry less with pharmacology. So my personal experience can only partially apply to people go to the Himalayas for the first time.

The nearest tours to Nepal where you can experience all these "wheels":

In order to finally "press" you (about the fact that all this is serious), I share a video where the participants of one of the expeditions to Everest talk about their pharmacological developments and methods of combating mountain sickness:

Cyril Yasko. 20 March 2019