Five days into sea kayaking with friends in Prince William Sound, Alaska, you feel lousy; some diarrhea, some vague abdominal cramping, not much appetite. You assume it's a touch of the flu and don't say anything. The next day you feel better and paddle all day.
That night you wake with the worse abdominal pain you have ever experienced. You endure it quietly and it subsides after 30 minutes. At breakfast you tell your companions about it. The Wilderness First Responder (WFR) in the group begins a series of questions, which he writes into a document he calls a SOAP report. You don't think you're very ill, but he's your friend, so you allow him the chance to do his "patient assessment."