Wilderness First Responder

Backcountry lessons could mean life or death, by Eric R. Wright, Casper Star-Tribune, 1999.
The rescue scenario, created by instructors from the Wilderness Medicine Institute... was designed to mirror a real-life backcountry medical emergency as closely as possible.

NOLS Courses Offering Wilderness First Responder sections

• Semester in the Rockies
• Year in Patagonia

This 80 hour section is for outdoor professionals and is the minimum required for NOLS instructors. You will gain the tools to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in remote settings. Half of your time will be spent completing practical skills, case studies, and scenarios designed to challenge your decision making abilities. Students completing the Wilderness First Responder section are eligible for three additional hours of college credit.

Wilderness Medicine Institute

Mission & Philosophy
The Wilderness Medicine Institute's goal is to provide the highest quality education and information for the recognition, treatment and prevention of wilderness emergencies. Our teaching philosophy is to emphasize treatment principles and decision making, not the memorization of lists. Our philosophy centers around the physical and psychological well being of our students and staff. We value the entire experience of a WMI program rather than simply the learning of medicine. Our staff are professional educators who understand the importance of fun and experience as invaluable learning tools. We feel strongly that a student's ability to feel confident about themselves and their ability to make decisions is of greater value than textbook medical skills. We emphasize decision making. We employ scenario based teaching as a complement to lecture style instruction. We believe that this is why our students learn so well and feel confident in employing their newly acquired judgment and skills.

Instructors
The Wilderness Medicine Institute employs more than 50 instructors. Our staff come from a wide range of medical and professional backgrounds, but all share a common commitment to quality wilderness medicine education. All staff meet or exceed the following requirements: WEMT-B/WFR, outdoor experience leading groups, direct pre-hospital patient care experience, and teaching experience. Many of our staff have worked professionally as nurses or EMT's, some on search and rescue teams or as ski patrollers, and many have worked as outdoor educators for schools such as the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Outward Bound. All of our staff are excellent educators who care about the students they teach. They know what it feels like to provide wilderness medical care and how to transfer those skills to others.