Wilderness first aid courses

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for courses offered in the Denver area. I don't really have any first aid experience at this point. I want to be able to confidently react in an emergency situation outside. Right now I would barely know what to do.

I am looking for a course that is more specific to the outdoors: climbing in remote areas and back country skiing (have Avalanche cert). I want to be able to stabilize a person after an accident and get them to safety.

Obviously this may take more than one course. Just looking for recommendations from anyone who has taken a course they really enjoyed and felt they learned a lot from.

Thanks

I took a WFA and WFR course from NOLS's wilderness medicine institute - great instructors and very good programs!

nols.edu/wmi/

As a good first step I'd recommend buying the pocket guide to WFA and adding it to your pack/first aid kit! I think it's published by NOLS ( nols.edu/store/product.php?…) - small, light, but extremely useful. Even after doing the training it's really nice to have it with you to double check yourself in an emergency!

Cheers,
Adam

I would definitely recommend taking a course through WMI (the NOLS one). They are one of three or four nationally recognized wilderness medicine programs. There are a lot of other similar programs but WMI, SOLO, and WMA are the standard (WMI is the best IMO and I've taken courses with all three). As far as the level of training I'm going to have to recommend the Wilderness First Responder (WFR). It is a lot more expensive than Wilderness First Aid and 9 days long, but when I took the Wilderness First Aid course years ago the only thing I really took from it was that I didn't know enough to do much in the event of an emergency. If you want real info that lasts, take the WFR and review the info regularly. Its also a lot of fun! Enjoy.

I took the WFR course from Wilderness Medicine Outfitters. I thought it was thorough enough and covered what I wanted to get out of it, which was some idea of what to do if something happens in the backcountry. I liked the schedule better than what NOLS had as well. It fit my 9-5 work week pretty well,too.

A friend of mine took the NOLS course and it covered a bit more than WMO, from what I could tell.

The Wilderness Medicine book by Forgey is a good reference.

I think any time spent in learning that stuff is well worth it though.

Goood luck.

There are several companies that offer both WFR and WFA. The ones listed below (links go directly to WFR info) are typically going to be directed towards your needs, that is as a climber and backcountry enthusiast. (These aren't the only one, just the ones I know of.)

Remote Medical, International (RMI) I had a friend take WFR through them and had nothing but positive comments. There are no courses coming up in the Denver area, however.

Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) There are no courses coming up in the Denver area.

Wilderness Medical Institute (WMI) is related to NOLS. There is a course scheduled for Jan. 8th in Denver.

If you are willing to travel to Boulder or other areas, check the websites for additional courses.

I linked to WFR, which is a roughly nine day course, as opposed to WFA, which is a two day course. If I am your injured partner, I'd much rather have you had nine days of training vs. two. Either way, I would hope you continue to practice and review what you had learned. AJS (poster above) would probably have better insight.

AJS, or other contributors, based upon your experiences, do you think WFA is sufficient?

I am signed up for a WFR through WMI starting the end of this month. I think any of the above companies can provide equal training. I joined WMI simply because their schedule fit mine. I had signed up before I left on a fall climbing trip, planned to last for two months. On the second day of climbing, I was involved in an accident. I was EXTREMELY grateful that my climbing partner had WFR training (and numerous years of re-cert). The experience certainly reinforced my own decision to get WFR certification and, ironically, I will be off my crutches just in time to begin class. I'm sure I will be a very realistic patient on the last day mock scenes!

Have fun, climb hard, be safe!

Steve

Steve Murphy wrote:AJS, or other contributors, based upon your experiences, do you think WFA is sufficient?

WFA is certainly better than nothing - I first took it 'cause I couldn't afford the time or $$ to do the WFR course. As I posted before, I think even owning (and reading!) a good wilderness first aid book is a good first step - i.e. it does no good having a nice first aid kit if you can't use it...At that time I was also not climbing and wasn't out in the backcountry as much.

WFR is definitely a great investment though! I'm definitely a lot more confident in my first aid abilities after that course than just with the WFA course...I've used my WFR skills in an urban setting as well as in the backcountry.

So, I guess my advice:
-if you can afford it, definitely do the WFR!
-the WFA is nice to have if you're just starting out and/or spend time a little closer to home...

-Adam

Hey J I took a WEMT class through medicalofficer.net they also offer a WFR class that is 5 days long. Jeff is a great instructor with real life experience as a PA for the Clinique at Crested Butte. They have a great reputation the class had Coast Guard rescue swimmers in it. It is in Crested Butte but you can camp nearby for free. A good start would be a first aid/CPR class it can be done in a day.

Thanks for all the responses. I am looking into a WFR through NOLS. I can probably get the time off for it and the money will follow at some point.

I want to second the opinion on the medicalofficer.net course in CB. Jeff is also a long time member and team leader of Crested Butte Search and Rescue. Super solid teacher. I don't reconmend the 5 day WFR course if you haven't had much prior first aid training. It goes super fast and assumes some previous experience.

One thing to look for are courses that have a 3 year cert. Some courses offer a 2 year cert with a 1 year grace. If you need a WFR for your job or anything it is a pain!
Jon

I highly recommend Remote Medical. Great instructors, great cirriculum, very knowlegable, and 98% success rate for NREMT examination. www.remotemedical.com