UNAIR NEWS – The interest and popularity of tourism and natural sports in the archipelago such as mountaineering is getting bigger. Unfortunately, it is not followed with knowledge of mountaineering health and safety.
In this regard, Reyner Valiant Tumbelaka, an alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine UNAIR class of 2007 was moved to build an educational platform called @dokterpendaki. Reyner admitted that it started when he was going up a mountain and had an accident.
“The development of infrastructure and facilities in various national parks as well as the promotion of Indonesian tourism has resulted in an increase in the number of enthusiasts. However, the number of accidents and mortality while mountaineering is also increasing, ”explained the man who was born in Kendari, September 27, 1989.
Reyner continued, those accidents would not have happened if climbers were well-equipped and educated with the right, scientific-based knowledge on mountaineering medicine. So far, there has been no educational platform specifically discussing mountaineering medicine in Indonesia, discussed by professionals who can be understood by anyone.
In this platform, Reyner tries to educate public on preventive measure and victim handling while on the climb, from the general things such as treating wounds, handling cramps, burns, basic life support, to specific ones such as acute mountain sickness and transportation of victims during a climb.
Together with his colleague, dr. Clarissa Azalia, Reyner packaged the knowledge in the form of timeline posts, stories, to webinars via Zoom and live Instagram. The speakers are medical specialists from various cities in Indonesia who are concerned with the topic, as well as professional climbers who have reached the seven highest peaks of the world.
“The public can access our platform by following the @dokterpendaki Instagram account,” he said.
Reyner said that he started the platform in August 2020. Instagram was chosen because the main target is laymen, amateur climbers, or recreational people who use Instagram to share good photos when climbing, selfies, and achievements at the top of the mountain.
“Through Instagram we can reach audiences well. In addition, Instagram is one of the social media that has the most active members, “he added.
Within four months, @dokterpendaki account managed to attract 8,000 active followers, and more than 400 webinar registrants for each topic. The enthusiasm of the community to study the mountaineering medicine health knowledge exceeded the expectations of dr. Reyner.
“The challenge is time and effort, building this platform requires consistency,” he said.
In the future, Reyner admitted that he wanted to develop a YouTube channel and website as a further step to accommodate people who learn from the platform. He hopes that there will be sponsors from the government and the private sector, so they can reach more people to enjoy nature safely and comfortably. (*)
Author: Muhammad Wildan S
Editor: Feri Fenoria
