Today was a sort of strange day that ended in the best camping spot of my life.
About 10 miles into my day I found this pack, fully loaded, with a note saying all of the gear was free for the taking. This wasn't anywhere near any kind of road access and it left me a little confused. I rifled through the whole pack and found little worth the weight, but ended up taking a Silva baseplate compass because it had the highest value per weight...
Anyways an hour or so later I came upon a group of three hikers resting. A man and a woman were both sitting up next to two very big packs and they were flanking a very large man splayed out on the ground. He didn't look well. I said hello and asked if everything was alright. They said they were fine, but I looked again at the man on the ground who was sweating profusely and next to him was only a small day pack. A light went off in my head and I asked if that was his pack further back on the trail. It was. I asked again if everything was alright or if they needed any water (this was a 20 mile dry stretch after all). They said they were fine but their friend was just a little sick. I was about to move on, but something about the guy looked wrong so I told the group I was an EMT and asked if there was anything I could do.
All of a sudden it was very clear that everything was far from alright. They quickly told me the man was suffering from congestive heart failure and he was relatively certain he had just had his third heart attack. They seemed very relieved to have me there even though I had little to offer. I took the mans pulse and breathing rate and then felt his forehead and was relieved to feel that he was warm to the touch(cold skin can indicate shock). His pulse was fast but strong, and I was pretty certain he wasn't in shock. I really needed a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff to complete a differential diagnosis, but I did offer them my spot device in case they wanted a rescue team. They declined it. I recommended aspirin if any chest pain returned but no one had any. I think I will carry baby aspirin from now on in case I meet another person in this situation. I have them a liter of water, and an airhead candy since he said sugar had been making him feel better. They seemed relieved by what I had done which was very little in my eyes. I walked on.
I arrived an hour or so later at Mazama Village and resupplied. I also met this furry little guy.
My mom had included a mango and avocado in my box and both worked out really well! Thanks mom!
I ate a meal with some other hikers and a little later the three hikers from earlier showed up much to my relief. I had kind of regretted that I hadn't offered to hike with them in case the man needed CPR or an emergency rescue so I was glad to see him walk in and say he was feeling a lot better. They were very grateful for what I had done, but the most important thing I did was give the guy some water.
A group of three of us hiked on from there and are currently camped on the rim of crater lake. The signs say, "No Camping," but there's plenty of it!! Absolutely gorgeous.
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