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NOLS is offering their exceptionally valuable Wilderness First Aid course next weekend at the Manhattan Beach REI store.
http://www.rei.com/class/5638/session/7796
I have taken this course. It's phenomenal. I HIGHLY recommend this class. It's two full days of instruction, that WILL save the life of someone close to you. I have had the need to apply this training on several occasions, and I am very grateful for this knowledge. The victims I helped are even more grateful!
The fundamental difference between WFA and your basic Red Cross class is that "urban" first aid teaches you to Call 911, check the ABC's and stablize the patient until help arrives. Out in the boonies, item 1 and 3 simply don't exist. It's up to you. What are you going to do?
This class is not in-depth, and you will not be qualified to practice surgery or anything, but you will be taught how to keep people alive, how to transport them (even with neck injuries and head trauma), and how to improvise using whatever nature provides. You will also learn how to build up a genuinely useful first aid kit. This is practical, useful, real world applicable training. It's also pretty fun, and taught with a good spirit and sense of enjoyment of adventure, and not about caution and worry. Naysays stay home, this class is for the wild at heart, but mature in spirit.
Here is the official write up:
http://www.rei.com/class/5638/session/7796
I have taken this course. It's phenomenal. I HIGHLY recommend this class. It's two full days of instruction, that WILL save the life of someone close to you. I have had the need to apply this training on several occasions, and I am very grateful for this knowledge. The victims I helped are even more grateful!
The fundamental difference between WFA and your basic Red Cross class is that "urban" first aid teaches you to Call 911, check the ABC's and stablize the patient until help arrives. Out in the boonies, item 1 and 3 simply don't exist. It's up to you. What are you going to do?
This class is not in-depth, and you will not be qualified to practice surgery or anything, but you will be taught how to keep people alive, how to transport them (even with neck injuries and head trauma), and how to improvise using whatever nature provides. You will also learn how to build up a genuinely useful first aid kit. This is practical, useful, real world applicable training. It's also pretty fun, and taught with a good spirit and sense of enjoyment of adventure, and not about caution and worry. Naysays stay home, this class is for the wild at heart, but mature in spirit.
Here is the official write up:
"REI is collaborating with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS to offer a comprehensive two day course that will teach you the wilderness medicine skills you need to recreate with confidence in the backcountry. 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 is a 16 hour course over two days. You will have both in store classroom time and hands on practice scenarios. This course can be used to recertify a Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness Advanced First Aid or the wilderness portion of a wilderness EMT. No prerequisites required.
Skills you'll learn:
* Learn how to administer first aid in a wilderness context
* Learn about the Patient Assessment System, patient exams, vital signs, history and documentation
* Class addresses major trauma such as spinal cord and head injuries, shock and wound management in a wilderness context
* It will also address less severe and more common medical issues such as environmental and athletic injuries
* Learn about first aid kits for a wilderness context."
Skills you'll learn:
* Learn how to administer first aid in a wilderness context
* Learn about the Patient Assessment System, patient exams, vital signs, history and documentation
* Class addresses major trauma such as spinal cord and head injuries, shock and wound management in a wilderness context
* It will also address less severe and more common medical issues such as environmental and athletic injuries
* Learn about first aid kits for a wilderness context."
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