The Inca Trail Classic Reliability Trial and 4x4 Adventure Drive

6 October - 29 November 2001

Medical Matters

1. Medical Team

As with the London to Cape Town rally there will be two team doctors:

• Mr. Mark Human
• Dr. Greg Williams

They will be supported by Mike Johnson, who is a professional ambulance crewman and an MSA qualified motorsport paramedic.

They will each be in one of the sweeper vehicles which follow the participants. These vehicles will also contain a fully trained mechanic, and be fully kitted to deal with both medical and mechanical "breakdowns".

2. Emergency Protocol

On a journey of some 25,000 kilometres, much of it over difficult terrain, the biggest risk is a road traffic accident.

Due to the delays between the lead car and the sweeper vehicles, our medical support could be hours from any potential incident. Your vehicle could well be the next on scene. Because of this: -

• All vehicles are required to carry a basic first aid kit and handbook. These must be to HERO specifications, to be published later, and we will arrange to provide comprehensive kits for purchase.
• Each vehicle should have at least one person trained in basic first aid. As before we will provide an abbreviated first aid course.

All of the countries we will be passing through possess good emergency service networks. This should be your first port of call in event of an emergency:

• Contact details for emergency services in each country will be made available to you on a fact sheet.
• Emergency services will also be aware of our passage.
• Mobile phone networks in all 6 countries are good and we are currently attempting to set up a roaming service. This may not work in remote areas.
• Support crew contact details / protocols will be made available to you.
• All participants will be provided with a necklace identity badge that should be worn at all times in your vehicles.
• The Inca Trail participants will all be covered by personal accident and emergency medical repatriation insurance for up to £50,000. This should be enough to cover repatriation by scheduled commercial flight, but not by private aircraft. Additional cover is available from HERO’s insurers – see separate information sheet.

3. General Advice

• Prevention is Better than Cure.
• This trip is highly intensive and both physically and emotionally demanding - make sure you are fit and healthy before we leave.
• Lengthy travel like this weakens your immune system.
• Discuss medical conditions (including altitude) with your General Practitioner and ensure you have sufficient of your regular medication for the entire duration of the trip.
• Carry spare glasses / contact lenses.
• Dental repair kits are also an excellent idea.
• Get "First-Aid Wise".
• Adhere to recommended guidelines on Water/ Food precautions (to be provided).

4. Immunisations

We are awaiting specific advice from MASTA (Medical Advisory Services for Travellers Abroad), which will be available by our Briefing Day on 7 April. As a rough guide:

Compulsory

• Yellow Fever (live - subcutaneous injection)
• Typhoid (live - oral)
• Polio (live - oral)
• Tetanus +-Diphtheria (booster - injection)

Highly Recommended

• Hepatitis A
• Meningococcal Meningitis
• Diphtheria

5. Diarrhoea

You will be extremely lucky to avoid this completely for the entire duration of the trip. Some general advice may help: -

• Most hotel food should be safe but this is no guarantee
• Avoid unbottled drinks and water (or untreated water) including ice in drinks.
• Mild diarrhoea is mostly viral and best treated by rehydration - flat Coke is good for this, but take a few sachets of Rehydrat or something similar.
• Blood / mucus in stool should be reported to one of the Medical Officers immediately, as should diarrhoea lasting more than 3 days, or more than 6 watery stools in 24 hours, as these probably warrant treatment.
• Unpeeled vegetables / fruit and tinned foods are generally safe.
• Remember the Imodium!!

6. Environmental Concerns

• Altitude sickness. Take this one seriously. The rally spends over a week above 10,000ft (3,000m), and goes up to 16,500ft (5,000m - higher than Mont Blanc), as well as a couple of shorter spells at altitude. You can negate or minimise the effects by careful preparation over the preceding few days; there are also medications. We will issue a full set of guidelines and hold an advice seminar several days prior to reaching altitude.
• Motion sickness. Many rally navigators suffer from this. Most of those who do take a propriety sea sickness remedy such as Stemetil (prochlorperazine 5mg tabs); some people use pressure-point wristbands which are commercially available.
• Hypothermia. The route includes some cold and exposed places. Have warm clothing and a lightweight survival blanket for each person.
• Sunburn/heat stroke. Pack the usual treatments, as for a holiday in a hot, sunny climate.
• Wildlife. Not a great problem. There's little dangerous wildlife along the route, but don't touch strange insects, reptiles or animals.

Finally, Mark Human is available to answer any specific questions you may have on his email address - [email protected]