The role of wilderness medicine training in resource-limited settings

Richard III cried out ‘‘A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” in the play of the same name, undoubtedly because it was a much needed resource that he did not have, and would have to overcome his enemies by improvising during the battle [1]. Resource limita- tions in emergency medical care demand that we perpetually con- sider and reconsider ways to improve the quality of that care. Resource limitations can usually be classified similar to a surge capacity assessment, i.e. lack of essential equipment (stuff), trained professionals (staff), space restrictions (structure), and appropriate systems to manage patients (systems) [2]. Within the majority of African emergency care settings, resource limitations involving one or more of these are challenging to say the least. Clinicians navigating these health care restrictions (whether in-, or outside the hospital) have to be both smart and innovative in order to ren- der care of a reasonable standard without compromising safety. Often these solutions are born of need, and although not ideal, necessity tends to be the mother of all invention.