The work of the UIAA Medical Commission is respected and recognized throughout the world of mountaineering. The Commission’s mission of increasing knowledge about mountain medicine among doctors, mountaineers and lay mountain users is achieved through several different means. In order to provide the best possible advice...
The UIAA Medical Commission’s article ‘Drug Use and Misuse in the Mountains: A UIAA MedCom Consensus Guide for Medical Professionals’ has been published by High Altitude Medicine & Biology. High Altitude Medicine & Biology is the first peer-reviewed journal focused exclusively on the latest advances in high...
The UIAA Medical Commission held its annual meeting on the 3,000m ski resort of Telluride, Colorado (USA) on Thursday 4 August. The meeting was one of many international committee meetings that were incorporated into the 7th World Congress of Mountain & Wilderness Medicine, a biennial congress...
Planning an expedition or travelling to high altitude in the coming weeks or months? The UIAA Medical Commission's guide to altitude sickness provides some key advice. What is altitude sickness? Altitude sickness is an "umbrella term” and includes 3 components: Acute mountain sickness (AMS) which is essentially...
The UIAA Medical Commission has released a new recommendation dedicated to the current outbreak of the Zika Viral Infection. The document charts the background of the disease, its relevance to climbers and mountaineers and presents the UIAA Medical Commission’s current advice. To download the document please click...
Helicopter evacuation of injured from Everest Base Camp after Nepal earthquake triggered avlanche (Photo: CNN) Some of the most dangerous missions by crews of helicopter rescue services take place on snow, ice and rock faces on mountains under difficult and complex conditions. Responders face a multitude of...
Medical Commission members in Greece The UIAA Medical Commission had its annual meeting on the island of Kalymnos, which included the opportunity for attendees to climb its immaculate limestone crags. Commission President Dr. David Hillebrandt reported that two-day meeting included one-day discussion Medical Commission business and the...
"The Diploma of Mountain Medicine has come a long way," says UIAA Medcom President Dr. David Hillebrandt Twenty years ago, the UIAA, International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) and International Society of Mountain Medicine (ISMM) agreed on a common syllabus combining mountain and medical skills to...
Mt. Ader (Photo: Phil Wickens for UIAA) The UIAA Medical Commission has developed a new layperson’s advice sheet on drug use in the mountains. UIAA Medical Commission president David Hillebrandt said the advice sheet is the result of five years of discussion and consensus building between experts on...
If you are planning the trip of a lifetime in the the mountains which involves high altitude travel it’s best to be prepared and that means being ready medical emergencies. That’s where the Travel at High Altitude booklet put out by Medex is a useful and helpful primer....