Part A: Conducted in Kathmandu (10 days) as lectures, group discussion, clinical scenarios, and technical skill acquiring. It covers:
Part B: Conducted in Manang and the Khangla glacier(5100m) in the Annapurna region(18 days) , as lectures, group discussion, and clinical scenarios and technical skills acquiring. It covers:
Winter skills: crampons and ice axe use, rope knots and safely skills, roped team travel and glacier traverse, self-arrest and self-rescue techniques, improvised lowering techniques, ice and snow anchors, ice climbing, patient transport on snow/ice, self and team crevasse rescue
| Basics of | Minimal time requirements (hrs) | Instructors | Suggested Training |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altitude and its illnesses | 8 | high altitude experienced doctor | theory |
| Exercise physiology | 1 | physiologist or experienced doctor | theory |
| Nutrition, fluid balance and exhaustion | 1 | experienced doctor or nutritionist | theory |
| Hypothermia | 4 | experienced doctor | theory + practical |
| Frostbite | 2 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Submersion and immersion in water | 1 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Heat and solar radiation | 1 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Practical traumatology | 8 | experienced doctor | workshop |
| Analgesia in the field | 2 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Effects of pre-existing clinical conditions | 4 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Children and mountains | 1 | experienced doctor (paediatrician) | theory |
| Travel Medicine | 2 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Infection control and water safety | 1 | experienced doctor | theory + practical |
| Weather | 1 | mountain guide or meteorologist | theory |
| Performing medical research | 1 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Stress management | 1 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Information technology in the mountains | 1 | workshop | |
| Ethics including sports and drug use | 1 | discussion | |
| Legal aspects | 0.5 | experienced lawyer or doctor with medico legal experience | theory |
| International mountaineering organisations | 0.5 | theory | |
| Personal first aid kit and mountaineering equipment | 1 | experienced doctor | theory |
| Mountaineering techniques in summer and winter (see Appendix 1) | 24 | qualified mountain guides | practical |
| Navigation and survival techniques in hostile weather in the mountains | 8 | mountain guide | workshop + practical |
| Avalanche risk assessment, companion search, and medical management of victims | 4 | experienced doctor + mountain guide or experienced avalanche worker/ski patroller | theory + practical |
| Introduction to improvised rescue techniques | 2 | experienced mountain rescue doctor, team member and/or mountain guide | theory |
| Practical demonstration of improvised rescue techniques | 4 | experienced mountain rescue doctor, team member and/or mountain guide | practical |
| Organised rescue | 4 | experienced mountain rescuer | theory + workshop |
| Death in the mountains | 1 | experienced mountain rescue healthcare provider | theory |
| Alpine sports accidents (base jumping, paragliding, sport climbing, mountain biking) | 1 | experienced mountain rescue healthcare provider | theory |
| Additional subjects selected by the course organiser | 29 | theory, workshop + practical | |
| Total number of hours | 120 | ||