A silver foil can save your life

More than 50 interested listeners came to the lecture on First Aid for Outdoor Activities - organised by WALDNESS im Almtal in cooperation with the Healthy Community Grünau - at the Wirtshaus d'Einkehr am Fluss on 11 September.

You slip in the field and your mobile phone doesn't work. What then?

Emergency paramedic and instructor Roman Herndl from the Red Cross Scharnstein described in a vivid, amusing and above all with excellent expert knowledge and a wealth of experience what needs to be taken into account when preparing and carrying out outdoor activities and what can save lives.

The guests listened intently, asked questions, contributed their own experiences and took the opportunity to try out different first aid measures such as the use of a rescue blanket made of thin and warming silver foil. Roman Herndl used it to demonstrate different ways of using it. The foil can even be used as a signalling device. It weighs just under 300 grams, is folded small and thus fits easily into any backpack as part of a basic kit when out and about.

Many other important tips on what responsible hikers, mountaineers and all those who like to be outdoors should be aware of and have with them, but also a refresher on all the important emergency numbers were part of the informative evening. The emergency SMS 0800 133 133, which is valid throughout Austria - and was known to only a few guests in the room - was immediately stored in many mobile phones.

About 50 interested listeners came to the lecture "Forest and Health" by the physician Dr. Hans Pesendorfer - organised by WALDNESS im Almtal in cooperation with the Healthy Community Scharnstein - in the community hall in Scharnstein on 24 September.

Since 1982, Japanese doctors have been recommending "Shinrin-Yoku" to their patients, usually translated as "forest bathing", and this refers to consciously walking in the healthy atmosphere of the forest. In Japan, forest bathing is considered a recognised stress management method and is prescribed as a matter of course, as it is officially recognised as part of preventive health care.

"The great thing about forest bathing is that it is easy for all of us to do: no previous knowledge is necessary and you don't have to be an athlete," says Pesendorfer. The general practitioner from Neukirchen near Altmünster inspired his numerous listeners in a professionally sound manner and with many touching references to his personal connection to wood and the forest.

"The forest opens up a completely new perspective. For us humans, it is a place where we can find relaxation and recreation, reflect on ourselves, recharge our batteries and recharge our health," added the doctor.

In his exciting lecture, Pesendorfer also reported on the branch of research that has been specially established at Japanese universities since 2012, namely forest medicine. "They are also intensively investigating terpenes. This is a bioactive cocktail of fragrances that the forest offers us and which is a highly effective protective shield for us humans, explains Hans Pesendorfer.

Experts already see terpenes as an important anti-cancer drug of the future. Psychosomatic medicine is also increasingly relying on the healing power of the forest, which can help with anxiety disorders, burn-out, sleep disorders and life crises. Doctors have been able to prove that spending time in the forest leads to an increase in the formation of natural killer cells, which are able to recognise and eliminate cancer cells and virus-infected cells.

Further information on WALDNESS in the Almtal at www.waldness.at