Introduction: Barometric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, resulting in a decrease in oxygen partial pressure, which poses a hypoxic challenge to any individual ascending to altitude above 2500 meters. When the hypoxic stress exceeds the capacity to acclimatise, any of the following forms of high altitude illness may occur: acute mountain sickness, high altitude cerebral oedema or high altitude pulmonary oedema. Purpose: The purpose of these paper is to determine the knowledge of climbers and mountaineers about altitude illness and first aid in case of its occurrence. The aim was to find out: (1) whether climbers and mountaineers know what the body's response to high altitude is, (2) whether they know the prevention of it and (3) whether they know what the first aid measures are in case of high altitude illness. Methods: A review of the literature in Slovene and English was carried out. The literature for the theoretical backrground was searched in international databases: CINAHL, Sciencedirect and PubMed, as well as in COBBISS and Google Scholar. In the empiric part, a quantitative non-experimental method of work was used. Data were collected using the 1KA online survey application. The collected data were processed using Microsoft Excel Office Home 2019. A literature review and an online questionarie were used to obtain information on the knowledge of Slovenian mountaineers and climbers about altitude sickness and first aid in case of its occurence. Results: The survery was filled in by 307 people. Of the different forms of high altitude illness, climbers and mountaineers were most familliar with acute mountain illness (77 %). The most frequently identificated risk factors for high altitude illness were: ascending too fast, dehydration, certain chronic diseases, the altitude at which the person lives and sleeping at high altitude. In case of acute mountain illness, respondents would descess 500 – 1000 meters (85 %), ensure optimal hydration (79 %) and about half (54 %) would use pharmacological measures. There is low awareness among climbers and mountaineers on the use of medications to prevent and treat the symptoms and signs of high altitude illness, with only 17 % of those surveyed being aware of these medicines. Discussion and conclusion: Our knowledge assessment showed that it is essential to educate mountaineers and climbers about altitude sickness (prevention, recognition and first aid), as this is the only way to prevent morbidity and mortality due to high altitude.
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