Safety on Mount Kilimanjaro
Climbing Kilimanjaro is probably one of the most dangerous things you will ever do. Every year, approximately 1,000 people are evacuated from the mountain, and approximately 10 deaths are reported. The actual number of deaths might be higher.
The main cause of death is altitude sickness. Everyone climbing Mount Kilimanjaro should be familiar with the symptoms of altitude sickness. And everyone climbing Kilimanjaro should choose an operator like Kwesa Tours that has the proper safety systems in place.
OUR SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
- Our guides are highly experienced in preventing, detecting, and treating altitude sickness because they handle over 1,000 climbers per year.
- Health checks are conducted twice per day using a pulse oximeter to monitor your oxygen saturation and pulse rate.
- We administer the Lake Louise Scoring System (LLSS) to help determine whether you have symptoms of altitude sickness and their severity.
- Our guides are certified Wilderness First Responders (WFR). They have the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions on location.
- We carry bottled oxygen on all climbs and can administer it to quickly treat climbers with moderate and serious altitude sickness.
- On northern routes, our staff carries a portable stretcher to evacuate climbers who need to descend but are unable to walk on their own. (Wheeled stretchers provided by the park are available on other routes.)
- Our guides can initiate helicopter evacuation through Kilimanjaro MedAir, a helicopter rescue operation.
- Our staff carries a first aid kit to treat minor scrapes, cuts and blisters.
The above listed measures ensure that Kwesa Tours guides and staff are prepared to keep our climbers safe and have the ability to treat climbers who become ill or injured.
At Kwesa Tours, your health and well being is our first priority.