Abstract
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Wilderness Medical Society's (WMS’s) primary publication, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. Initially titled the Journal of Wilderness Medicine, the first issue included 5 articles and an editorial. The topics were diverse. One paper was devoted to high altitude pulmonary edema, another examined experimental and clinical evaluations of frostbite treatment, an additional paper reviewed the human and medical geography of Tibet, and another delineated guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis following bear attacks.
The journal has evolved since its inaugural issue and was renamed Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (WEM) in 1995. WEM now includes a wide-ranging and broad array of papers devoted to numerous topics, including environmental policy, envenomations, exercise physiology, ultrasound, search and rescue, regional anesthesia in austere environments, resuscitation, and mindfulness, to name just a few. In addition, the journal publishes the highly influential WMS clinical practice guidelines. Since its spartan beginnings, the journal has quadrupled in size and scope. In the journal's initial editorial, Paul Auerbach and Oswald Oelz anticipated both WEM's growth and its heterogeneity of topics as they expanded the definition of wilderness. Auerbach and Oelz stated, “We perceive the meaning [of wilderness] to include not only remote regions of the Amazon, Himalaya, Sahara and Antarctic, but the glorious national parks, coastal waterways and alpine trails which are the settings for some of our finest recreational moments and alas, medical tragedies.” 1 The authors also provided a historical context for the development of the WMS and the creation of the journal as a forum for the research and clinical interests of its members and others.
Consistent with previous installments of WEM, this issue offers case reports and furthers the ongoing discussion of high altitude pulmonary edema—a topic initially presented in the first issue of the journal by Hackett and Roach—through the examination of climber characteristics on Mount Aconcagua.2,3 However, this issue also reflects a slight departure from our usual content, of which we think Drs. Auerbach and Oelz would approve. WEM aims to provide a focus on a timely and consequential topic. Stefan Wheat and Caleb Dresser, physicians and climate scientists from the University of Washington and Harvard University, respectively, have guest edited a thematic collection of papers devoted to the impact of climate change on wilderness medicine, seen through the lens of disaster response, chronic disease, geriatric medicine, and vector-borne diseases, among other subjects. Climate science and wilderness medicine are intertwined, and Wheat and Dresser have collected and collated a relevant series of papers.
Going forward, we hope to offer our readers an opportunity to dive deep into specific themes—wilderness medicine education, women's health in austere environments, and space medicine—affording them the opportunity to develop their own proficiency and stimulate discussion and future research. We invite our readers to comment on our themes and to suggest additional topics that are suited for a thematic investigation. Now in its 35th year, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine continues to evolve and provide a forum for practitioners and researchers while expanding its own influence and expertise.