NOLS Introduces the Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) has added a new, unique course to its offerings this spring. The Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester combines wilderness, leadership and environmental studies with intensive wilderness medicine and rescue training. The first Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester will hit the trail next February.

“This semester offers the best of NOLS field and WMI medical curriculum,” said Tod Schimelpfenig, curriculum director for NOLS WMI. “This semester is a curriculum we have dreamed of offering.”

The semester-long course begins with a demanding, four-week Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician course, followed by nine weeks of canyon backpacking, canoeing and rock climbing. Students will also dive into environmental studies, examining, in particular, the impact of environmental health on human health.

In addition to leadership and technical outdoor skills, students will learn swift water and rock rescue skills. The course is designed to prepare students for careers in outdoor recreation, medicine and rescue. Graduates will earn, in addition to NOLS diplomas, Wilderness and Urban Emergency Medical Technician, CPR Instructor, Leave No Trace, Basic Swift Water Rescue and Rock Rescue certifications.

“To be an effective wilderness medicine caregiver, you need sound medical skills, wilderness living and travel skills, and most importantly, good leadership and teamwork habits, what we call expedition behavior,” said Schimelpfenig. “No one else combines this curriculum.”

As with most NOLS courses, prior outdoor experience is not a prerequisite, only a desire to learn and explore. A Healthcare Provider or Professional Rescuer CPR certification must be current for the duration of the WEMT portion of the course.

About NOLS

Founded in 1965 by legendary mountaineer Paul Petzoldt, NOLS is the leader in wilderness education, providing awe-inspiring, transformative experiences to more than 15,000 students each year. These students, ages 14 to 70, learn in the wildest and most remote classrooms worldwide—from the Amazon rain forest, to rugged peaks in the Himalaya, to Alaskan glaciers and Arctic tundra. Graduates are active leaders with lifelong environmental ethics and outdoor skills. NOLS also offers customized courses through NOLS Professional Training, and the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS is the leading teacher of wilderness medicine worldwide. For more information, call (800) 710-NOLS (6657) or visit www.nols.edu.