Wilderness First Aid
Overview
Wilderness First Aid is an introductory course in wilderness medicine that teaches the fundamentals of prevention, assessment, and treatment of injuries and illnesses commonly found in the outdoors. It is designed to address emergencies that often occur on day or overnight explorations, in areas with reliable communications, and for situations where assistance is typically available within a few hours. Your training will include a mix of lectures, skill sessions, case study discussions, and training scenarios.
Our Wilderness First Aid training course stands apart because you’ll learn from seasoned professional emergency medical providers with years of backcountry training and experience. Our clients represent diverse backgrounds and skill levels, like hikers, bikers, paddlers, camp staff, guides, First Responders, nurses, and medical school students. We keep our class sizes small so that you receive personalized instruction to help you understand and retain the knowledge and successfully implement the training.
Our WFA is accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for prehospital providers.
Highlights
And don’t worry, just like all of our other survival courses, you’ll get the best of military survival training without the hardships! You will learn during a mix of “classroom” time and field training in an easily accessed, central location. You’ll really like our instructors, who each work hard to provide a comfortable learning environment. And you’ll get a chance to work with a diverse mix of other clients, who typically share the same passion for learning.
- Learn about patient assessment techniques, scene management, and evacuation decisions
- Understand first responder techniques for dealing with shock, splinting, wound management, temperature related illness, anaphylaxis, and more.
- Learn the critical supplies to include in your wilderness survival first-aid kit.
This course is geared towards participants of varying skill, experience levels, and backgrounds so no prerequisites are required. We only require that you bring the necessary equipment, your sense of adventure, and plenty of Positive Mental Attitude. From there, we will work together to take care of the rest. Please note the “Level of Physical Difficulty” description below so that we can all get the most out of the program.
Continuing Education Credits
Continuing-Education Hours: For pre-hospital providers, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has approved this course for 15 credits for EMR, EMT, Paramedic, and PHRN.
Certification Length: Two years
Course Overview
Description of the Level of Physical Difficulty – Easy to Moderate: This program will involve physical effort on terrain that is relatively flat and includes some hills, over short distances at a slow pace on generally defined and established trails. Activities will involve indoor and outdoor portions in a mix of weather conditions. Activities will require some lifting and squatting. No prior experience in the program is required.
Start/End Times: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days
Minimum Age: 15 years old when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
You will learn from seasoned professional emergency medical providers with years of backcountry training and experience.
What should you bring?
Items to Bring
- Sturdy closed-toe footwear (ideally with ankle support)
- Appropriate Clothing (for season and conditions, non-cotton recommended)
- Appropriate Outerwear (for season and conditions)
- Water – 1L minimum
- Watch or other timepiece
- Lunch and Snacks
- Any necessary medications
Optional Items
- Extra under/outer garments
- Daypack (for back or waist to carry any related gear)
- Camp Chair
- Hat / Bandana
- Knife (fixed or folding)
- Multi-tool
- Camp Saw
- Gloves
- Pencil and Notepad (“Rite in Rain” type recommended)
- Camera
- Insect Repellant
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Hand disinfectant/wipes
The scenarios provided critical thinking situations and taught us what to prioritize and how to properly assess the scene and patient. The smaller class was really nice and allowed plenty of on hand training.
Course Gallery
For those who play or work outdoors, or who simply want to be better prepared for the unexpected, when access to EMS and a hospital may be delayed.
We’re often asked these questions about this course...
We will personally follow up with you with three quick and easy forms for you to complete and return. We will send you a detailed course information sheet which will contain all of the applicable details that you’ll need to prepare and arrive for your training.
Since our primary goal is to provide you a safe and comfortable learning experience that helps to minimize your costs, we really don’t require much beyond appropriate clothing and footwear, your snacks and lunch. When you register, we’ll send you a detailed course information sheet that will list the required and suggested items. Additionally, one of our goals is to give you a chance to “test drive” the gear and supplies that we bring so that you can make better purchases after the course.
In some ways, you will find the training and issues very similar to what you see in a front-country setting, but in most other respects, you will find it to be very different. First, you will be learning to deal with issues that you rarely find in an urban environment, like venomous bites, acute hypothermia, and lightning strikes. Also, wilderness medical care requires a greater emphasis on improvisation as you won’t have access to the equipment in your ambulance or office. In turn, the standard of care in wilderness environments may differ substantially from your state protocols. Lastly, most front-country medical providers only deal with patients for brief periods (maybe just the ambulance ride to the hospital) and in teams, but, as a WFA provider, you may need to care for your patient for hours or longer - all by yourself.
No experience whatsoever is required for any of our courses, basic or advanced. Just make sure to bring your sense of adventure and positive mental attitude! Whether you have only car-camped or hiked the Appalachian Trail, we are confident that you will find our courses a terrific learning experience. No matter what, we are all students - including our instructors!
Ready for an Adventure
Because Mother Nature doesn't care about your skill level. And She doesn't just give up because you've had enough. Get the skills you need to survive and conquer any situation!
