Grace and I are now certified Wilderness First Responders (WFR). We spent the last two weekends, plus a Friday and two evenings (~60 hrs) in the practical portion of the course. 95% hands on learning and simulations. All book-work was completed before the course began.
We started out with simple skills: basic life support and patient movement; quickly progressing and building in complexity; culminating in intense simulations every day. We bled. We screamed and moaned. Some of us died. Everyone spent hours holding patient's heads in spine-stable positions.
I won't say more, except to state that this course was worth every minute and every penny. If you spend a lot of time in remote locations, you should take a WFR. There's an incredible peace of mind that comes with knowing that you can walk up to a major trauma victim in the wilderness and provide the best care possible under those circumstances. They might die whatever you do, but at least you will know you have done all that anyone could.
BIG thanks to Janelle, Mark, and Dylan for organizing the whole thing! This was more than just contacting the WMTC and setting up the course: they had to find rooms, get a ton of gear together, and even feed us breakfast!
Another big thanks to our instructor, Joel Reid. No doubt the other WMTC teachers are also excellent, but I'd recommend taking a course from Joel if you can! He was fantastic in every way I can think of!
Finally, thanks to all our fellow students! I had a great time, both getting to know those I didn't already, and working with those friends I did. It was pretty awesome to see everyone progressing so quickly, and really performing well under stress!
We started out with simple skills: basic life support and patient movement; quickly progressing and building in complexity; culminating in intense simulations every day. We bled. We screamed and moaned. Some of us died. Everyone spent hours holding patient's heads in spine-stable positions.
I won't say more, except to state that this course was worth every minute and every penny. If you spend a lot of time in remote locations, you should take a WFR. There's an incredible peace of mind that comes with knowing that you can walk up to a major trauma victim in the wilderness and provide the best care possible under those circumstances. They might die whatever you do, but at least you will know you have done all that anyone could.
BIG thanks to Janelle, Mark, and Dylan for organizing the whole thing! This was more than just contacting the WMTC and setting up the course: they had to find rooms, get a ton of gear together, and even feed us breakfast!
Another big thanks to our instructor, Joel Reid. No doubt the other WMTC teachers are also excellent, but I'd recommend taking a course from Joel if you can! He was fantastic in every way I can think of!
Finally, thanks to all our fellow students! I had a great time, both getting to know those I didn't already, and working with those friends I did. It was pretty awesome to see everyone progressing so quickly, and really performing well under stress!
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