Wilderness First Aid - Green Earth Outdoors

[indytechnerd]

I registered for their Wilderness First Aid class in April. They were listed on the SOLO schools website. Anyone have any experience with them? I'm hoping to get through at least First Responder this year, but I don't think I've got time for EMT and vacations with the family.

GREEN EARTH OUTDOORS - Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Certification Course with Optional CPR/AED

 

[shibumiseeker]

The WFA class is a good start (I can't comment on the company specifically, but it's a hard class to screw up).

Unless you are going to work as an EMT (ie, you are taking the classes for your own knowledge), the Wilderness First Responder class is MUCH better for the average person.

 

[indytechnerd]

My own knowledge, yes, though I think doing SAR would be cool. That's not something that can be accomplished in a short time, though. I'm playing all of this by ear, but my general goal for this year is to improve my outdoor skills and broaden my knowledge base.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Thing is, the EMT class spends a lot of time covering aspects not directly relevant, such as ambulance operations and the like. It's also geared towards 10 minute scene time and getting someone to a hospital quickly.

This is why I recommend WFR and WFA to folks in the general public looking to further their emergency medical skills. And WFR is excellent if you ever want to do SAR

 

[Slawburger]

Doug at Green Earth Outdoors is a great guy with a lot of experience and knowledge. I don't know if he is teaching the course or not but he wouldn't sponsor anything that wasn't of good quality. He also leads people on a lot of adventure treks if you are interested.

I have taken the Wilderness First Aid Basics course elsewhere (before it was offered at GEO) and found it very informative. It didn't make me an EMT or a combat medic but I could deal with most things that come up when help is delayed (camping, hiking, treks).

 

[bingley]

Shibumi, what else do you recommend for people looking to pick up medical and emergency skills? Technical rescue seems interesting, but also expensive and impractical for non-rescuers. I've considered some disaster med type of course, but the one I could find seems to pack so much into one weekend that I can't trust it.

By the way, I would have done EMT except for your advice. There is no real application to working with an ambulance for a civie like me. So thanks!

 

[philo]

I took the SOLO WFA 4 years ago and again last fall through IU outdoor adventures. The SOLO program is very worthwhile. At the University there were several students just taking it for an easy credit and they didn't try very hard - the level of benefit you get out of these is tied pretty closely to what you are willing to put into it.

I'm about 1/4 of the way through WFR this spring and enjoying it. Dave Calvin does a good and pretty thorough job as an instructor compared to some of the first aid, trauma management, and emergency response training I've had elsewhere, but I've not been to any of the other SOLO affiliates.

 

[philo]

Thing is, the EMT class spends a lot of time covering aspects not directly relevant, such as ambulance operations and the like. It's also geared towards 10 minute scene time and getting someone to a hospital quickly.

This is why I recommend WFR and WFA to folks in the general public looking to further their emergency medical skills. And WFR is excellent if you ever want to do SAR

Same opinion of the WEMT? or would that be worthwhile?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Same opinion of the WEMT? or would that be worthwhile?

I go back and forth on that one. I don't feel like you get much more from WEMT than you do from WFR -IF- you are not going to be working as an EMT. If you are an EMT in an urban environment and don't spend any time out in the woods then it's not worth the time spent (unless one wants the knowledge, never a bad thing)

A person becoming an EMT and wanting to work in a rural or wilderness environment outside of Indiana would be best served by taking WEMT first. Of course in Indiana we don't recognize the NR-EMT (National Registry, Indiana EMT requirements exceed those of NR), so that person would be better served by taking Indiana EMT and then getting WFR. Indiana does not recognize wilderness protocols and I know of no hospitals or doctors in Indiana who will authorize those protocols, so it's really best taken simply for ones own knowledge for SHTF. A civilian using WFR protocols in Indiana would most likely be covered by Good Samaritan, but an EMT working under protocols may not be.

As far as further medical training beyond WFR, if you aren't going to either work as a paramedic or doctor, there really isn't a lot of training out there because much of it starts getting into drug therapy and invasive techniques that for the layman would land one in very serious trouble if you tried to do many of the techniques outside of a TEOTWAWKI situation where there was no possibility of having to answer to authorities. Under those circumstances, knowing how to do an emergency appendectomy, Cesarean Section, tracheostomy, chest decompression, and trepanation is not a bad idea, but be aware that if you do these things on anyone other than yourself you will probably face very serious legal repercussions even if the person survives, and if the person dies you may face manslaughter charges (ie, you get NO protection from Good Samaritan laws).

The next step after taking the medical classes is to keep the training current. Techniques change and like shooting skills, they are perishable, and the more you know the more new knowledge fits together. I live and breathe this stuff and I still learn a lot all the time. Aside from that, SAR and technical rescue are valuable even if one is not going to become involved. I got involved in SAR from the medical side, but I quickly found out that the medical aspect of saving myself or someone else in SHTF is maybe 25% of it. A very, very important 25%, but the whole skills matrix works together.