Wilderness First Responder program through NOLS

Parent Cafe
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My S23 just finished a 10 day Wilderness First Responder training that was led by NOLS and he’s done nothing but rave about the curriculum, the training, the disaster scenarios they put them through, and the experience as a whole.

Wilderness First Responder training goes well beyond a basic first aid course from a medical treatment standpoint, while also addressing the complications of not being able to potentially evacuate a person for several days, and how to properly assess, treat, and evacuate those injured parties under different medical and environmental conditions.

My son said the disaster scenarios are presented as high stress and with as much realism as they can muster - there are bones protruding, mangled body parts, and blood that are all specially crafted for medical training. Naturally it is also outdoors, and in all weather.

Some brief quotes:
- Yesterday: Hypothermia, spine injury, head injury, stabilizing and preparing the patient for evacuation.

- Tonight’s scenario was a plane crash: We had two people unconcious, one person impaled on a tree stump, one missing both her hand and her eye, one with a broken arm and a broken leg, and one person running around and through the site hysterical.

I’m still waiting to hear what the last 4 hour disaster scenario was, I’ve only heard: “incredible.”

NOLS teaches these courses around the country and I’d recommend them to anyone with an interest in the outdoors and/or medicine. High school students over 16 can take them with permission of a parent, and I think they’d also be a strong experience for gap year students, too. In my son’s class it was a mix of college students along with adults in their 30s, and 40s. A mix of people, some aspiring to health care roles or in current health care roles, and also people like my son who are passionate about the outdoors.

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Just to add some additional information to your post - completely agree with what you outlined.

Wilderness First Responder is a follow-on, more extensive and in depth, course to a 2 day Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course. WFA and WFR are both 2 year certifications. MOST people that go for the WFR need the certification as part of their job (leading excursions into back-country, Search & Rescue, etc). In addition to the medical aspects they will/should outline the “good Samaritan” legal aspects to back-country medical treatment which can vary substantially from front-country expectations.

I am WFA certified and never bothered for WFR. I’m active in the wilderness but as a hobby and the only time I would use the training is if I came across someone, or self treatment. WFR is a substantial cost. Unless your employer is paying for it or it’s subsidized by some charitable organization expect to spend $2K+. And unless they’ve changed something recently there is no specific recertification course (shorter, less cost) - you take the WFR course again/every 2 years.

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This sounds like an amazing program. I’ll mention it to my son.

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SIL is graduate of NOLS Leadership school and took the WFA course since he led backpacking trips for NOLS for 3 years as a paid employee and later worked as experiential outdoor education teacher at a private school. (His job was to lead middle thru high school students on outdoor camping/backpacking trips.)

In both cases his employer paid for the WFA course.

Wilderness Medicine is subspecialty within Emergency Medicine and a very popular fellowship among EM docs. Additionally, med students may elect to take a 4 week wilderness medicine rotation. (D2 did and enjoyed it enormously. They practiced rescues in high alpine, desert and swampy locales. For her WM rotation in med school, D1 got to go work at Base Camp Everest.)

People who are serious about doing WM need technical climbing skills, must be decent skiers and hold water safety certifications. And unfortunately… there really aren’t any full time jobs for people in wilderness medicine.

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I might position this slightly differently. Fortunately we don’t have a high enough occurrence of need to require/benefit from full time roles in wilderness medicine.

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Costs can vary quite a bit according to where it’s held! In my son’s case it was hosted by his college (Whitman) over the last 10 days of the winter break. The 10 day fee (including text and materials) was $825 for students and $925 for the general public. NOLS used the college’s classroom space, and the outdoor sessions and disaster scenarios were outside on campus (including in the creek), and in the woods not far away.

Students enrolled in the course were allowed to return to their dorms one day prior to the course beginning (campus was otherwise empty), but the dining hall was closed and they were on their own for all meals (my son cooked outside on his camp stove, others went into town for meals). The general public was local or was required to find off campus lodging.

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Tangentially, for those that have outdoorsy students or kids who haven’t had the chance before and might want to try new things, Whitman College is a fantastic place to get outdoors as well as learn a lot of life skills via their excellent outdoor program. Their outdoor classes teach skills from ice climbing to kayaking, discuss decision making, mental errors, planning and risk management.

My son’s taken an outdoor leadership course that culminated in a trip over spring break hiking, climbing, and river crossing in isolated canyons in Utah; a sea kayaking leadership course that led to a multi day trip in the San Juan Islands; indoor climbing I and II, and a climbing wall instructor certification course.

The college has an excellent gear rental shop with very cheap prices to enable and encourage people to get outdoors and try different activities - you can rent anything from a paddle to snow shoes, or even just a rain coat or parka, or a pair of gloves. All students also receive an annual credit via the Bob Carson Outdoor Fund to enable them to take an outdoor trip every year.

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If you haven’t already, you should post this information in the thread linked below.

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I believe this was the course D’s took together in 2008. WFR ‘wolfers’ was a great experience. I seem to remember something like $500 for 2 days and 1 night? in the summer in the Colorado wilderness. They refer to the knowledge to this day and use it. Great course for them- they were 16 and 21.

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My SIL also completed this training. Said it was amazing.

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I am guessing that the two day course they took is NOLS’ “Wilderness First Aid” training which has a different set of parameters, but is also very useful! WFA is a fantastic class for people looking for solid first aid skills.

In a nutshell (for others who may be reading this), the difference between a Wilderness First Responder course (and certification) and a First Aid course is that WFRs are trained to provide a higher level of care than basic first aid—assessing and treating a wide range of emergencies in remote environments, and they are especially “trained to handle medical emergencies in remote settings where advanced medical help may be hours or days away. They are trained to assess and manage a wide range of injuries and illnesses, provide CPR, perform wound care, stabilize fractures and dislocations, manage hypothermia and heat-related illnesses, and make critical evacuation decisions. WFRs are equipped to act as the primary responder in wilderness emergencies.”

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Actually…my SIL took Advanced Wilderness Life Support, which I think is different. But he really found it helpful. He is a flight medic.

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Advanced Wilderness Life Support requires additional training including BLS and ALS certification before taking AWLS.

Advanced Life Support courses are designed for professional healthcare providers who participate in the assessment and management of critical patients, including those working in in-hospital, pre-hospital, and out-of-hospital medical facilities.

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But they are still expected and required to consult with a EM specialist physician via radio/cell phone as soon as possible. The EMS medical director will direct them in how to triage and manage the patient(s). The WFR will implement the stabilization and transport of the patient based upon the treating physician’s plan.

WFRs are not allow to dispense medications. Not even aspirin or ibuprofen.

(I can testify to this based upon unfortunate first hand personal experience. The treatment of the patient will be directed by the off-site EMS physician.)

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BTW, you don’t need to go thru NOLS to take a Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder class.

Both classes are offered at your local Red Cross chapter.

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I’ll text my LEO son about the AWLS course. Because of his EM certifications he was recently attached to several task forces, one of which is a Search And Rescue unit.

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