THE FOLLOWING TO ACHIEVING ACCLIMATION
Daily Health Checks
Our guides are all experienced in identifying altitude sickness and dealing with the problems it causes with climbers. They will constantly monitor your well-being on the climb by watching you and speaking with you. Twice daily, in the morning and evening, our guides will conduct health checks.
Pre-acclimatize prior to your trip by using a high altitude training system.
- Ascend Slowly. Your guides will tell you, “Pole, pole” (slowly, slowly) throughout your climb. Because it takes time to acclimatize, your ascension should be slow. Taking rest days will help. Taking a day increases your chances of getting to the top by up to 30% and increases your chances of actually getting some enjoyment out of the experience by much more than that.
- Do not overexert yourself. Mild exercise may help altitude acclimatization, but strenuous activity may promote HAPE.
- Take slow deliberate deep breaths.
- Climb high, sleep low. Climb to a higher altitude during the day, then sleep at a lower altitude at night. Most routes comply with this principle and additional acclimatization hikes can be incorporated into your itinerary.
- Eat enough food and drink enough water while on your climb. It is recommended that you drink from four to five liters of fluid per day. Also, eat a high calorie diet while at altitude, even if your appetite is diminished.
- Use FDA approved drug Diamox for prevention and treatment of AMS.
- Avoid tobacco, alcohol and other depressant drugs including, barbiturates, tranquillizers, sleeping pills and opiates. These further decrease the respiratory drive during sleep resulting in a worsening of altitude sickness.
- If you begin to show symptoms of moderate altitude sickness, don’t go higher until symptoms decrease. If symptoms increase, descend.
- Our guides are highly experienced in preventing, detecting, and treating altitude sickness .
- Our guides conduct twice daily health checks using a pulse oximeter to monitor your oxygen saturation and pulse rate.
- Our guides administer the Lake Louise Scoring System (LLSS) to help determine whether you have symptoms of altitude sickness and their severity.
- Our guides are certified Wilderness First Responders (WFR). They have the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions on location.
- Our staff carries bottled oxygen on all climbs and can administer it to quickly treat climbers with moderate and serious altitude sickness.
- Our staff carries a portable stretcher at all times to evacuate climbers who need to descend but are unable to walk on their own.
- Our staff has the ability to initiate helicopter evacuation through Kilimanjaro Search and Rescue
(SAR), a helicopter rescue operation. - Our staff carries a first aid kit to treat minor scrapes, cuts and blisters.