Wilderness First Aid

[Attitude]

Wilderness First

[rbw1966]

I took an EMT-B course at PCC a few years ago and damn glad I did.

[Alex]

b-rock said:

Arguably it is irresponsible to climb in remote places and not to have some of formal training?

 

I guess I'm wondering what level of training everyone here has, and how it has suited them in real world scenarios. Wilderness First Aid? First Responder? Just CPR? Suggestions on where to get training? Thanks.

 

It depends on how much risk you and your partners take, how far away from help.

 

Both my fiancee and I are WFRs through Wilderness Medical Associates. It was great training! A week after I did my training, I was a first responder to a traffic accident where a Trooper broadsided a VW Beetle with 7 people inside it (this was in downtown Bellingham!). A week later, I responded to a broken leg on Louise Falls in the Canadian Rockies. So yes, the training can be valuable.

 

I would suggest that for backpacking WFA is adequate. For alpine climbing, WFR is adequate. If you think CPR training alone is of any use, consider that *no one* has ever been recovered alive in a Wilderness situation where CPR was applied. CPR is for restaurants n stuff where life support is minutes away, not hours.

 

You can get WFR training through several locales; in fact its taught regularly in Leavenworth. Wilderness Medical Assoc., SOLO, and other organizations are very respected orgs for teaching these courses.

 

Alex

[Ursa_Eagle]

B-rock,

This one's down here in our neck of the woods:

Mountaineering First Aid

I took it last year, and it's good. The lectures are a little dry, as is expected from any first aid class, but the weekend is a blast.

I've also taken SOLO's WFA class before, it's good as well. I agree that the Red Cross Basic First Aid is crap, the only thing they teach you do to is dial 911.

[b-rock]

Thanks all. Ursa, I was eying that Mazamas course, inexpensive and open to non-members.

[Ursa_Eagle]

I'm not sure how good your chances are at getting in this round (people who aren't leaders or taking the intermediate class are low on the priority list ), but I know quite a few people who were just general interest who took it either last spring or fall.