Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has prepared 30 mountain guides with backwoods first aid and mountaineering skills to improve safety of tourists hiking the Rwenzori and Elgon mountains. According to James Kagambi, the chief instructor for mountaineering, by the end of the training, the guides should be able to lead clients safely through Rwenzori’s snow, glacier and rocks.The 23-day training was carried out by three instructors from the National Outdoor Leadership School, one of the leading American institutes in wilderness education. The training was segmented into two phases each involving 15 mountain guides; six UWA guides (three from Elgon and three from Rwenzori) and twenty-four Rwenzori Mountaineering Service guides. Training included treating cardio pulmonary resuscitation, treating altitude illnesses and injury problems like broken bones and sprained ankles and how to get the patient down from the top of the mountain.It necessitates lectures on conservation, client relationship and hands-on emergency rescue drills taught from the foothills to the snow capped peaks of the Rwenzori Mountain. In 1996, the three instructors conducted similar training on the same mountain. Iris Saxer, the chief instructor, said that this training provides the guides a foundation in evaluating a patient dealing with any immediate threats to life .

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