34 male. Nausea, vomiting, dehydration 48+ hours

This is a very detailed account (published this January) by the survivor of his emergency deep in the wilderness in September 2014.

The first 2/3 of his (solo) hike description are before he started getting in trouble. So if you read his account (below) and want to get to the ETS part, it starts in the 3rd paragraph of Day 3.

I'm rusty on my first aid, but it sounds like heat exhaustion/stroke causing nausea, leading to being unable to keep water down, leading to dehydration.

A passing hiker took him to water, and next morning, the passerby used his DeLorme AG-00987-201 inReach SE to summon help (which took quite a while - they were pretty deep in the back country).

http://www.wigginoutside.com/2016/01/stevens-to-snoqualmie-or-help-me-rhonda.html

Sadly for my signal mirror obsession - when he first tried his signal mirror on commercial aircraft, no luck. When he tried to vector in the helicopter, it was overcast. Which is why a PLB/SPOT/InReach should part of your kit (as it is now of his).

A very worthwhile cautionary tale. his troubles certainly began at least by day two. Did he take water breaks? How much water was he carrying - note his lightweight backpacking slant, starting with a pack weight of thirty pounds- how much of that was water? Did he "tank up" in the evenings and before starting in the morning?

I would also wonder about his headgear - full brimmed or ball cap?

It is interesting to note that apparently his strobe light and other signalling measures did work rather well. Nothing is perfect and nothing works in all conditions.

Great story! The guy at least kept his sense of humor about the ordeal.

Hi,
Seems like a case where
Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS, like Pedialyte)
would have helped prevent dehydration.

1 liter water (5 cups),
1/2 level teaspoon salt(2.5 grams),
6 level teaspoons sugar(24grams).

I just measured ,
half liter plastic water bottle cap holds about 1 teaspoon (5mL)
2 liter soda bottle cap holds about 1.8 teaspoon (9mL)

This new formula reduces emissions, old formula is 1 liter water 1 teaspoon salt 8 teaspoon sugar

And you can rent a PLB for relatively little$... good way to go if you just have a 1-3 week trip to the boonies...

What's the difference between ORS and a product like Gatorade?
Gatorade vs Electral vs Enzeral

ORS has about 5x as much salt! So the intake should be different, Gatorade as a supplement whereas ORS is for emergency dehydration replenishment.

Hi,
interesting observation...
my bottle of ORS says how much a kid should drink per day,
no such information/caution on my gatorade bottle



ORS intake per day, baby/toddler 1/2 liter, kids 1 liter, adults 3 liters (bigger adult 4liter)

one drink prevents death, the other promotes diabetes
I'd stick with water as a supplement


There is a funny story on wikipedia on why they called it "ade" instead of "aid", so they don't have to prove its beneficial scinentifically.

But even when they try to prove stuff, “Striking lack of evidence” to back up claims for popular sports brands | The BMJ
'No Evidence' That Sports Products Enhance Performance, Warns Study
Study: Sports Drink Science Is Self-Serving - ABC News
Exposing the truth about sports drinks | MinnPost
So
Google scholar gatorade->
Digital Repository, University of Kelaniya: King coconut water, tender coconut water, Gatorade and ORS: which rehydrates athletes best?