WMI Students in Action - letters from our files

"I took your EMT class and wanted you to know how great it was. I put my skills to use as a professional ski instructor. The skills you taught me gave me significant confidence in every situation, including very serious ones. " WEMT Graduate, 1995

"I recently had an opportunity to put into action what I learned. While driving I came upon a serious car accident. I pulled over, jumped out of my car and approached the scene. Near one of the cars was a guy with an EMT emblem on his jacket talking to a woman who was sitting in the seat, but he wasn't doing anything. The woman was obviously injured, so I jumped in and TOOK THE HEAD! It was clear that the EMT suddenly realized that was the correct thing to do and he began to follow my lead. He then took control of her head so that I could continue with vitals.

I started talking to the woman, assessing her LOC. I got her chief complaint, and began checking her pulse as well as looking around for obvious bleeding. Paramedics soon arrived. I started giving them a verbal SOAP report. "We've got an adult female whose chief complaint is . . ." The paramedics looked at me like, 'Whoa, who's this guy?' I wanted so much to yell out 'I be da WFR!' But I restrained myself.

As I left the scene one of the paramedics thanked me for my help. I want to transfer that thanks to WMI. Confidence, combined with knowledge and a mechanism for dealing with fear, is a great thing. " WFR Graduate, 1999

"Had to deal with my first serious accident in the field last weekend. A fellow teacher fell 15 feet onto a rock and into a raging creek. He came out with a nasty gash on his head. Everyone panicked and fixated on his cut, but I knew it was the least of our worries. In ten minutes I had a complete SOAP written and knew his condition wasn't immediately life threatening. All spinal precautions were taken and an ambulance took him away. A bruise and a few stitches were the extent of the damages, but was it scary! Had I not taken your course over the summer, I would have been much more scared and might have done something damaging in haste. A thousand of my most profound thanks! "  WFR Graduate, 1992

"I was hiking in Death Valley and noticed an older woman in our group not looking so hot. Well, actually she was looking very hot, as in heat exhaustion hot. We were on an 8-mile hike over the sand dunes, in 90-degree heat, no clouds, and no shade. I did a patient assessment, took vitals, and then aggressively cooled and rehydrated her. There was also a Wilderness EMT in the group (also trained by WMI), and we had a tag-team dousing/fanning/rehydrating thing going. At first her temp was 100.5 HR 120, RR 30, but they came down nicely and it was a happy ending. And yes, we did a SOAP note! I felt really well prepared. . . thanks to y'all."   WFR Graduate, 1998

"On January 18, 1998, a large avalanche occurred in Fisher Creek drainage just outside of Cooke City, Montana, which claimed the lives of three snowmobilers. Two of your students happened onto the scene shortly after the avalanche, and both played key roles in assisting with the search and then acted as the primary emergency care providers as the victims were recovered from the slide. Soon more WMI students and an instructor arrived. Even though some of the students had limited training, each performed professionally and to the best of their abilities in a very difficult situation.

Though the fate of the victims was beyond the control of any of the rescuers, I feel all involved played an important role in doing all that could have been done. It is the selfless actions such as those taken by your students that help make it all worthwhile."  Yellowstone National Park Ranger

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