Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
Department of Emergency Medicine and University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.
Telemed J E Health. 2020 Mar;26(3):369-373. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2019.0008. Epub 2019 Mar 25.
Psychologically stressful events can be particularly challenging in the wilderness or extreme environments due to a lack of immediate medical or psychological support. Telemedicine consultations may provide a means to supply medical providers in austere environments with expertise when confronted with these situations. In this study, we detail a case of psychological care imparted to residents at a remote, arctic research station after they encountered a polar bear. The health care provider at the camp was not a dedicated mental health professional but was able to deliver psychological care with assistance from a trained provider through use of telemedicine. We provide a brief overview of the evidence behind psychological first aid and incident support sessions for the treatment of stress injuries. We also review the evidence for telemedicine for psychological care in wilderness situations and describe its use in this scenario. All station residents were able to resume regular arctic activities. Resident feedback was that the sessions were advantageous. We anticipate the need for psychological care in austere situations to increase in the future, and further training in this field and the advancement of telemedicine consultation will be of benefit to wilderness providers.
心理压力事件在野外或极端环境中可能特别具有挑战性，因为缺乏即时的医疗或心理支持。远程医疗咨询可能为在艰苦环境中提供医疗服务的人员提供了一种在遇到这些情况时获得专业知识的手段。在这项研究中，我们详细介绍了在偏远的北极研究站的居民遇到北极熊后接受心理护理的情况。营地的医疗服务提供者不是专门的心理健康专家，但在经过培训的提供者的协助下，能够通过使用远程医疗提供心理护理。我们简要概述了心理急救和事件支持会议的证据，这些会议可用于治疗应激损伤。我们还回顾了远程医疗在野外情况下进行心理护理的证据，并描述了其在这种情况下的使用。所有站点居民都能够恢复正常的北极活动。居民的反馈是这些会议很有帮助。我们预计未来在艰苦环境中对心理护理的需求将会增加，在该领域的进一步培训和远程医疗咨询的发展将使野外服务提供者受益。
