A question I get a lot is, should I take a CPR or Wilderness First Aid course to do big adventures or should I just carry certain first aid items?
The way I see it is anything can happen. My question for you is how prepared do you want to be in order to handle it? All it takes is a split second for someone to twist something and fall. Or to hear a crack above you only to see a huge branch coming down to flatten you (which I have seen before). When you are in backcountry or at least an hour from definitive care, you are the first responder. Anyone who is around at the time of the accident with the most medical knowledge could be the difference between someone never adventuring again or making a speedy full recovery. I don’t mean to scare you but this is the reality. If you are the one who is injured it would absolutely be a huge help for you to be able to walk others through what to do to save your life or limbs.
Let’s change the scenario a bit. The aftermath of a natural disaster such as a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, flooding, etc. are other forms of a “wilderness” or when an ambulance may not be able to get to you as fast due to the conditions or simply because they are overwhelmed with mass casualties. Wouldn’t it be nice to know what to do to properly take care of your friends, family, and neighbors until help arrives? I’ll let you in on another bit of insight. First responders are very relieved when they hear that there is someone already on the scene who is properly trained to keep the patient alive and stable. This buys them and your patient valuable time. It’s also helpful to have someone who is trained to communicate a thorough, accurate patient assessment and can give them a much better picture of what they are walking into as well as what they need to bring with them to provide farther care for the patient in a timely manner. So why can’t that person be you?
I have taken CPR, Wilderness First Aid, and Wilderness First Responder courses and I absolutely recommend taking as many of these courses as you are able. But at the very least Wilderness First Aid is a great one to have under your belt for the average outdoor enthusiast. So how does one accomplish that? My personal recommendation is to take a course with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). NOLS has one of the best reputations worldwide of great quality education and the biggest variety of courses to choose from in terms of locations and times. I’ve provided a link below to find a course that works for you! I’d also recommend taking the course somewhere awesome so you can get some great exploring in before or after your course! That bit of advice is just for funsies!
What’s the difference between courses? CPR is included with most NOLS wilderness medicine courses but the course description will tell you. Wilderness First Aid is a 2 day course with both classroom learning and field scenario training. The classes usually run from about 9am to 5pm. Be sure to note that the class times can vary. The requirement for the certification is 16 hours of training. The course tuition typically ranges from $300 to $400.
Wilderness First Responder courses are about 2 weeks long or 80 hours of training time. Course tuition can range from $800 to over $1,600 depending on where you take the course. WFR courses go much more in depth on musculoskeletal injuries, environmental injuries, preexisting conditions, mental health, administering medications, common wilderness medical problems, evacuation plans, leadership and decision making, medical legal considerations, and more. The scenarios are more intense and include night scenarios. There’s more strategy on how to treat injuries, build splints, tourniquets, etc. with the tools you already carry in your backpack. You learn to work with and lead a Search and Rescue team for a single patient and mass casualty situations. If you can’t hear it in my description, I had an absolute blast in my WFR course. The information is invaluable and I loved having the privilege of meeting so many great outdoor professionals and athletes in the class that I would be honored to work with in the field.
What do I have in my First Aid Kit you ask? The most common things of course such as bandaids, blister care, Neosporin, Advil, and Tylenol. Beyond that I have several sealed baggies of latex free gloves that are exactly my size. This is very important and the first step you take when you realize you have a situation on your hands. I also carry plenty of gauze, scissors, tweezers, SAM splint, tape stitch wound closures, medical tape, dramamine, super glue, mylar blanket, small vials of lavender, ginger, and peppermint, a lighter, aloe vera, a thermometer and disposable covers, self adhesive wrap, athletic wrap, velcro ACE wrap (we go through a lot of wraps), cough drops, safety pins, antiseptic wipes, an irrigation syringe, butterfly closures, hand sanitizer, tampons, q-tips, and a mini Wilderness Medicine field guide.
Everything should be packaged away neatly, organized, sanitary, and waterproofed. You should know exactly what is in your medical kit and how to use it before you need it in the backcountry. It’s not a great idea to buy a standard first aid kit, throw it in your backpack, and never think about it until you have an emergency. Get familiar with your supplies. You can also tailor it to your specific adventure so you’re not trying to carry an entire hospital every time you hike. The items I listed above are my personal choices and things I am willing to accept the consequences of added weight. You have to make your own decisions on this and like I said, tailor your bag to your needs. Perhaps you need to carry extra insulin and a bag of gummy worms in your kit. Maybe you need disposable contacts if you normally wear glasses and happen to break them on your trip. I can go through tons of scenarios but you get the point. Think about yourself, your companions, and your children perhaps. The more you adventure and unfortunately have an incident or 2, your kit will evolve. That’s expected. What’s most important is that you feel confident dealing with the task at hand.
Hopefully this encouraged you to pursue Wilderness First Aid education! Have other questions? Ask them! Have input or tips on how to build ones first aid kit? Let us know in the comments! Enhance the community with life saving info helping us all be better equipped with the tools we need to enjoy this beautiful world with peace of mind. Safe travels everyone!