One of the rude facts of wilderness medicine is that folks who need rapid transport and full medical facilities will most likely not make it. If you spend all your equip on them you waste it. If there is a chance of medivac and you have already spoken with the fly-boys then you should do all you can to help. OTOH, if you are relying on your signal mirror to attract attention and are at the bottom of a ravine next to the poor bloke who just broke his neck and is gasping out his last or worse not breathing but looking at you conscious and in desperate pain - sorry, he ain't gonna make it. If you are in the backcountry time to definitive medical care will be measured in hours not minutes and sometimes in days. Handiling bleeding and broken extremities is possible and should be attempted, You may even be able to handle a heart attack or stroke if God is with you and you can get them through the accute episode with CPR (for the HA ). Damaged spine or neck is very likely to be fatal and interruption of any of the ABC's is likely to be likewise fatal.

For wilderness medicine be prepared to stop cap, venous, aterieal bleeding, Be prepared to stabilize broken bones, Be prepared to make the patient comfortable and most importantly be prepared to communicate. If you carry a long board, cSpine collar, AED, intubation kit, etc but can't call in the helo you are not much more likely to bring out a live patient than if you were only carrying a bandana and a bottle of aspirin. If you can call in the medivac to an exact GPS coordinate then all of the ALS / BLS stuff becomes useful. Remember, all of this gear and training is designed to stabilize the patient during the "golden hour" until they can recieve definitive medical attention. If that medical attention is days away you aren't going to be able to substitute for it. That hour is all your patient has.

You can treat hypo - hyper thermia, snow blindness, altitude sickness, sun burn, minor - major bleeding, broken legs & arms, concusions, even strokes with patience, rest, warmth, shade, and bandannas. Some sterile 4X4 and compression bandages and maybe a sam splint would be helpful but all can be improvised. The one thing that can't be improvised that would make a difference is the transport. If you can't call in the cavalry then you aren't going to get the patient to the help that they need in time - period.

Massive trauma, or Major medical conditions are fatal in the back-country.