I’m in the process of taking a Wilderness First Responder course in which we’re trained to prevent, identify, and initiate treatment of most medical situations in the wilderness (one or more hours away from definitive care) and utilize what ever I have available. It got me thinking how easily some of these accidents could happen and while I thought all of the first aid and CPR training I’ve gotten from the Boy Scouts over the years would have me prepared for anything, I was surprised at how much I’ve learned about first response to these situations. Moreover, the scenarios in which students are made up and acting like patients is an awesome aspect of the class as it gives you more of an idea of how the treatment works than just reading and writing about it on paper.
It also got me thinking, how many people out there have NO IDEA of what to do if they happen upon an injured person? Would you know how to help someone if you were out of communication or help was a long ways out? Would a Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder course be a good investment (it is an investment…) for those of you who spend a good amount of time in the woods hunting, hiking, camping, etc?
Russ’s thread about helping the gentleman in the FM is a good example of what I’m talking about.
Great course. I took the 8-day version years ago and found it to be extremely helpful.
I agree, the scenarios were key. Our instructor would film us at the scene and we would evaluate the vids later. It was hardcore, as it should be, and a few didn’t graduate.
One thing that stuck with me was making the determination to stop CPR when someone was dead and ALS was far away. Heavy to have to make that call.
I think the cost would be limiting to many, as I remember it was 800 bucks or so.
OSHA requires all commercial divers to be first aid, CPR, and Emergency Oxygen Administration trained. So every year or every other year, I have to get re-certs. Two years ago, I went through the Divers Alert Network for Emergency First Response which was pretty good. This year, I had to kind of expedite the process because my certs were do and I have a government contract coming up so I went to these guys: http://www.americansti.org/ for my re-certs. It was all online, which I thought was weird because I have always been trained hands on. It was quick and easy.
It is important to stay up on that stuff. Quite a bit of stuff has changed since the Boy Scout days.