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totally disabling, and this method of treatment is excellent. Of course, adequate eye protection from the glare is of utmost importance and should be provided for all directions around the eye. General Considerations: Though knowledge of the foregoing First and Second Aid measures have pertained particularly to injuries, there are other misfortunes that may be encountered. Such may be a severe respiratory infection or pneumonia or a heart failure or to a lesser degree a heart strain. In recent years a condition called High Altitude Pulmonary Edema has been described. It is probably a form of heart failure that is brought on by rapid exposure to high altitude and oxygen lack. It is characterized by the rapid onset of extreme fatigue and shortness of breath usually occurring within a day or two after ascending to altitudes above 10,000 feet. Symptoms progress rapidly to include a dry cough and difficulty in sleeping, especially in the flat position. The individual may want to sit up because his breathing becomes noisy and bubbling and his cough productive of frothy sputum. Usually the pulse is rapid, the temperature is normal, and the patient appears acutely ill. The skin color may be pale or have a bluish tinge. In this condition the patient has often been considered to have a pneumonia and the true diagnosis has only recently been recognized. |
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