Peter Stark: Limits of Human Endurance

321 Pages·2013·1.18 MB·English

by  Breath, Last

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l a s t
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By Peter Stark
Driving to Greenland
Last Breath
Edited by Peter Stark
Ring of Ice
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l a s t
b r e a t h
C A U T I O N A R Y T A L E S
F R O M T H E L I M I T S
O F H U M A N E N D U R A N C E
P E T E R S T A R K
B A L L A N T I N E B O O K S / N E W Y O R K
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A Ballantine Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
Copyright © by Peter Stark
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The
Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.,
New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of
Canada Limited,Toronto.One chapter of this work was previously
published in Outsidemagazine.
Ballantine is a registered trademark and the Ballantine colophon is
a trademark of Random House,Inc.
www.ballantinebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stark,Peter.
Last breath :cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance/
Peter Stark.
p. cm.
1.Outdoor medical emergencies. 2.Travel—Health aspects.
3.Adventure and adventurers—Health aspects. 4.Death. I.Title.
RC88.9.O95 S73 2001
616—dc21 2001037553
eISBN ---
v1.0
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T O T H O S E W H O P U S H T O T H E E D G E ,
A N D T O T H O S E W H O H E L P B R I N G T H E M B A C K
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C O N T E N T S

Acknowledgments

Introduction Ars Moriendo:
The Craft ofDying
 
Chapter As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow:
Hypothermia
 
Chapter A River of One’s Own:
Drowning
 
Chapter Arching Toward the Clear Light:
Mountain Sickness
 
Chapter The Cold Hug of the White Sphinx:
Avalanche
 
Chapter Steller’s Last Laugh,or Better Living
Through Botany:
Scurvy
 
Chapter Warm to the Touch:
Heatstroke
 
Chapter Pitched from the Vertical Realm:
Falling
 
Chapter The Sharp Sting of Paradise:
Predators
 
Chapter Bubbling from the Bottom Up:
The Bends
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viii contents
 
Chapter In Love’s Blood:
Cerebral Malaria
 
Chapter In a Land Beyond the Shade:
Dehydration

Sources
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
he generosity, patience, expertise,
and insight of dozens of individuals both inside and outside the
medical field allowed me to write this book.With very few excep-
tions,everyone I contacted for help gave unstintingly of their time
and knowledge;this generosity of spirit came as a great encourage-
ment to me throughout the process of researching and writing.
I’d like to start by thanking Doug Webber, M.D., physician
specializing in emergency medicine at St. Patrick’s Hospital in
Missoula, Montana. A climber, kayaker, scuba diver, and mara-
thoner as well as a doctor on the front lines of the medical field,
Doug guided me through many knotty questions of physiology
and emergency treatment in addition to lending his outdoors ex-
pertise. I would like to thank for his psychological insights Scott
Elrod, M.D., also of Missoula. I received help for many of the

chapters by attending the th Annual Wilderness Medicine
gathering in Keystone, Colorado, sponsored by the Office of
Continuing Medical Education at the University of California,
San Diego, School of Medicine. It was a tremendous resource to
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