Wilderness Medicine Podcast · Wilderness Medical Society

#37: Climate Change: Recreation at Risk & Hypothermia MythBustsers

·1 hr 7 min·4 clips

Only 6% of respondents said they were not disrupted in 2023, meaning 94% were disrupted.

The March 2025 episode starts by framing climate change as a creeping problem rather than a distant one. It points to the outdoor industry as one place where that shift is already showing up. The hosts treat the topic as both medical and operational. They ask what happens when air quality, heat, and other conditions become harder to predict. The conversation grows out of a paper from this month's journal, and the episode is available for CME credits. The survey feedback sounds urgent and repetitive: people want help, they want clarity about health impacts on staff and participants, and they want to know the short-term and long-term effects of operating in this changing environment. They also want a threshold for action and help making decisions. The episode treats that need as a call for collaboration across the sector. It suggests that outdoor groups need medical professionals who can turn the evidence into usable guidance. The hosts return to the idea of a creeping crisis, which fits the way climate change arrives as a slow onset of stress on systems not built for it. The discussion is less about slogans and more about the practical strain on programs trying to operate under new conditions. The episode then shifts into a hypothermia thought experiment. It turns into a Mythbusters-style lab discussion with a wilderness medicine edge. The hosts examine a device concept that was studied in only a very small pilot group of ten people. That work was done under general anesthesia in the operating room, not outdoors and not prehospital. The discussion stays careful about those limits and does not overstate the evidence. It also notes that the device does not appear to be available right now, which keeps the idea interesting but not ready for field use. The episode closes by returning to the practical side of wilderness medicine, keeping the tone conversational while still aiming for CME-ready journal-club value.

As heard by us

Climate change, field thresholds, and a practical hypothermia discussion for people making decisions outdoors.

Climate change is the thread running through the episode, but the focus stays practical rather than abstract. It treats the issue as a creeping pressure on the outdoor industry and on the people making calls in the field, then moves quickly into what heat, air quality, and cold…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when climate, heat, and cold are starting to change your field decisions.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Wilderness Medicine Podcast