Talk:Hazards of outdoor activities

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents 1 Page organization 2 Vision 3 Format 4 Avalanche danger

[edit] Page organization

I liked the original organization better. Some thoughts:

• Sunburn is not strictly heat-related. You can get a sunburn on a cold day, or even a cloudy day.
• I don't see the point in having a whole section on "water-related injuries" if it only contains one entry. I can't think of anything else that might go there in the future.
• I don't like the "camp-related injuries" section; I'd split it and parcel it out into the other sections. For that matter, the "foo-related injuries" pattern is a bit dull. Even "heat injuries" and "cold injuries" may sound better.
  

--Smack (talk) 16:32, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the organization is not ideal. In fact all the "foo-related" headings can/should be dropped. Better to add the material and see how best to arrange it later. -Will Beback 20:29, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

FYI, hypothermia is often water-related, either from precipitation or immerison. -Will Beback 20:31, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't like the "water-related" category as you've been using it, because it joins such unrelated events as drowning, getting hypothermia after a rain shower, and being scalded by hot cooking water. --Smack (talk) 02:21, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm all for chucking the headings. I think they are not the best way of organizing the material. -Will Beback 02:28, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

How would you do without headings? No matter how you reorganize this article, it will cry out for headings of one kind or another. --Smack (talk) 04:24, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I think that many of the items are best categorized by the parts of the body that they affect, and the way they affect them, rather than by the activities that cause them. However, some cases that really stand out, such as wild animals, can be grouped by cause. Maybe something like this:

• Dangerous circumstances (should probably come first)
  • Losing the way
  • Inclement weather
  • Failing to return before nightfall (maybe?)
  • Hazardous terrain (maybe combine terrain collapse, such as avalanches, with slippery or uneven terrain)
  • Quick note on pre-existing medical conditions
• Specific accidents and medical issues
  • Metabolic imbalances: remove frostbite, maybe add carbon monoxide poisoning
  • Topical injuries: burns, sunburn, frostbite, topically toxic plants
  • Animals
    • Maybe have a subsection for big, toothy things, and another for pesky, stinging things, or maybe stick the latter into the topical-injuries section
  • Internal injuries (sprains, broken bones, and such)
  • Digestive infections from contaminated water or dirty dishes

This layout omits cuts and snow blindness, but I just can't think of a good place to put them. --Smack (talk) 20:34, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

That looks good. Cuts and snowblindness are sufficiently close to "topical injuries" that we can put them there. -Will Beback 23:54, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Meteorites belong in inclement weather, I suppose. -Will Beback 11:50, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Wait... meteorites? Who ever mentioned meteorites? --Smack (talk) 06:11, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

The hazards of meteorites are why it is so important to always wear a helmet outdoors. Fortunately, several layers of tin-foil seem to be sufficient. -Will Beback 06:23, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vision

Wikipedia is not a how-to guide. It certainly isn't a first aid manual. We can assume that no one will have this article available while engaged in an outdoor activity. We are trying to cover hazards related to hiking, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, skiing, other winter activities, fishing?, hunting? etc. It should be mostly just a guide to articles on the topics of fractures, hypothermia, and so on, put in the context of outdoor activities, with some general prevention concepts. Right? -Will Beback 10:42, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

We certainly shouldn't turn this article into a first-aid manual or a safety guide. Nonetheless, I think we should comprehensively summarize the different ways someone can get hurt, rather than simply listing them and ending the story with that. --Smack (talk)

Right. It's a fine line to walk (like a cliff ledge with the yucca growing on the inside). Also, we need to develop the nautical hazards for kayaks, etc., and some more weather and snow-related hazards, especially avalanches, floods, etc. Since this is an international article, we should mention the lions, tigers and bears that might attack. Oh my. There's probably a "lists of venomous snakes" etc. for linking. Human dangers? (thieves, careless hunters, vehicles, etc.) Medical hazards (pre-existing conditions exacerbated- heart disease, seizure, diabetes, asthma, old injuries). -Will Beback 12:57, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

That sounds like a really impressive catalogue of ways to get oneself killed, but I'm afraid that most of it does actually belong here. However, I'd like this article to be as brief as possible with pre-existing medical conditions. --Smack (talk) 17:40, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Any other thoughts on organization and headings? -Will Beback 04:05, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Format

The concept of this article, I think, is a guide to other articles, with some general precautions: a glorified list. Some sections have the main ideas first (even italicized), followed by a few lines of text. Others are more essay-like. I'm thinking that the article would flow better if we went one way or the other, and my preference is for an annotated list format, with short descriptions of each hazard. But either way works, or maybe there's a third option. Cheers, -Will Beback 10:40, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Avalanche danger

What about avalanche danger? I would think this is a hazard that should be listed here

It already is. See Hazards of outdoor activities#Hazardous terrain. -Will Beback 19:37, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok. Thanks. I see it now.