KRasmussen
New member
Last week a friend from work and one of his buddies went on a day hike in the local mountains. During the hike he suddenly became very short of breath, dizzy and nauseated. He is in good shape and hikes on a regular basis. When the symptoms began he was approximately 5-6 miles from the truck and even farther from help. They were both able to make it back to civilization and went home that night. The following day he was still not well and decided to go get checked out. It turned out he had Oleander poisoning. Luckily it was a small dose and he has fully recovered. He is not exactly sure how it was ingested or if it were a contact poison. It is believed that the Oleander possibly rubbed against his drinking tube coming from the camelback and it was ingested that way. All I can say is we are glad that he has recovered and I waned to share his experience as a reminder to try and keep clear of Oleander. It does not take much to make you ill and according to the doctor will cause respiratory failure in higher doses.
FYI he is an EMT, his hiking partner is a paramedic as am I, and they both felt helpless.
FYI he is an EMT, his hiking partner is a paramedic as am I, and they both felt helpless.
