Abstract
Wilderness medicine covers a practice of emergency medicine in which the main attributes of provided care include difficult patient access, limited equipment, and environmental extremes worsening patient's condition. Furthermore, it includes uncommon causes of medical emergencies in developed countries, atypical and significant risks to the rescuers, technically difficult patient's rescue, and complicated transport back to the "friendly" environment.
In the first part of the article covering selected wilderness emergencies, the authors describe situation which is rare in the Czech Republic, but may sometimes require response of the emergency medical services: an avalanche accident. In completely-buried avalanche victim, a characteristic pathophysiological triad, including hypoxia, hypercapnia and hypothermia, requires specific approach in both prehospital and in-hospital settings.