NOLS: Wilderness First Aid

Wilderness First Aid

Whether spending time in the backcountry is your passion or your profession, you should never have to ask, "What do I do now?" REI is partnering with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS to offer a comprehensive 16 hour, two day course that will teach you the wilderness medicine skills you need to recreate with confidence in the backcountry. In just two days, you will learn the knowledge, skills and ability to make sound decisions in emergency situations. From the Patient Assessment System through traumatic, medical, and environmental emergencies, you'll experience a wide variety of topics designed to prepare you to act if an accident occurs. This course is ideal for trip leaders, camp staff, outdoor enthusiasts and individuals in remote locations.

Wilderness Medicine Institute empowers people to act with confidence in emergencies. NOLS Wilderness First Aid graduates are prepared to act. They gain practical skills that can save lives.

The Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course will help you prepare for the unexpected. This fast paced, hands-on training is designed to meet the needs of trip leaders, camp staff, outdoor enthusiasts and individuals working in remote locations. It will introduce you to caring for people who become ill or injured far from definitive medical care. Classroom lectures and demonstrations are combined with realistic scenarios where mock patients will challenge you to integrate your learning. At the end of the course, you’ll have the knowledge, skills and ability to make sound decisions in emergency situations.

Taught by seasoned instructors in a two or two and a half day format, most WFA courses are held on a weekend. Learning takes place both in the classroom and in outdoor settings regardless of weather conditions. Come prepared for wet, muddy, cold or hot environments.

The 16 to 20-hour Wilderness First Aid course includes many advanced topics that other programs leave out such as reduction of dislocations and epinephrine administration.

Best for participants ages 16+.

Topics include:

  • Patient Assessment System
  • Evacuation Plans and Emergency Procedures
  • CPR (on some courses)
  • Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Shock
  • Head Injuries
  • Wilderness Wound Management
  • Athletic Injuries
  • Fracture Management
  • Dislocations
  • Cold Injuries
  • Heat Illness
  • Altitude Illness
  • Lightning
  • The Medical Patient
  • Anaphylaxis
  • Wilderness First Aid KitsREI

When: 
Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20, 2016
Summerquest Camp for kids aed 5-14 at the Crane Estate in Ipswich Massachusetts

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