Scouting, Volume 85, Number 1, January-February 1997 Page: 13
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When Altitude Knocks
You for a Loop
'AUSEA. THAT'S MY MOST
vivid memory of this event. I
had just finished the 200-yard
swim test at Camp Kern Boy
Scout camp in the high Sierras, and I
was terribly sick to my stomach. I
was also hyperventilating, but I as-
sumed it was due to the effort of the
swim.
I was 44
years old,
overweight,
and had spent
too much
time behind a
desk and not
enough at the
gym, I told
myself. I
stumbled to a
bench where
I sat for the
By Tom Thompkins
Illustration by David Beck
next 20 minutes, trying to recover,
but I didn't get any better. I got
worse.
Finally, one of the other adult lead-
ers helped me get back to our camp-
site, where I shrugged off any further
help and went directly to bed.
Despite 25 years in the medical
field as a corpsman and physician as-
sociate, I was unable to look at myself
objectively, as I would have looked at
a patient. Had I been able to do so, I
would have recognized Acute Moun-
tain Sickness (AMS) and reported to
the camp medical officer. Instead, I
spent one of the worst nights of my
life.
We had departed Los Angeles early
that morning and driven straight
through to the camp, an altitude gain
of 7,200 feet. Within an hour of our ar-
rival, we leaped into the chilly moun-
tain lake for the swim test.
This was to be my first summer
camp with my son, and I was deter-
mined to make the best of it. Instead,
I spent the night fighting off waves of
nausea and shortness of breath. The
next morning, my hands were stiff
and swollen and my wedding ring was
so tight I couldn't even twist it on my
finger. I had a terrible headache that
didn't respond to aspirin, and I felt as
if I had the flu.
After three or four days, I felt bet-
ter, but still not 100 percent. The rug-
ged, mountainous terrain that was so
much a part of the charm of Camp
Kern was too much for me. I cursed
myself for being so badly out of shape
and vowed that I would never go to
camp in this condition again. I restric-
ted my activities, avoiding any exer-
tion, and I did (continued on page 37)
Often mistaken
as merely the
result of
being in poor
condition,
Acute Mountain
Sickness has
ruined more
outings than
most Scouters
mm
%1 '1
. 1" —— :
Scouting January-February 1997
13
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 85, Number 1, January-February 1997, periodical, January 1997; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353695/m1/13/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.