Sharpen Your Skills. Renew Your Certification.

The NOLS Wilderness First Responder Recertification is a focused, hands-on course designed to keep your wilderness medicine skills current and your certification active. Led by NOLS’s expert instructors, this course puts you back in realistic patient care scenarios where the decisions are yours to make.

Over the course of three intensive days, you’ll refresh critical assessment and treatment skills, practice decision-making under pressure, and work through hands-on scenarios that mirror real backcountry emergencies. This isn’t a review session—it’s a recalibration of the skills that matter most when someone’s wellbeing depends on you.

What You’ll Do:

• Practice patient assessment systems in realistic scenarios
• Work through evolving wilderness emergencies with your team
• Refresh skills in wound management, musculoskeletal injuries, environmental emergencies, trauma, and a variety of medical scenarios
• Learn from experienced, certified NOLS instructors who are dedicated to delivering the highest standard of wilderness medicine education
• Complete a written exam and practical skills evaluation

What Certifications You’ll Earn:

• Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification
• CPR certification
• Epinephrine Auto-injector certification
• 18 EMT Continuing Education hours via CAPCE (additional cost)
• 1 college credit through the University of Utah (additional cost)

Who This Course Is For:

This WFR recertification course is for anyone whose Wilderness First Responder certification is current or for a NOLS certification within its re-entry year. or within its grace period. Whether you’re a guide, trip leader, outdoor educator, search and rescue volunteer, or anyone who works or travels in remote settings, this course keeps your skills sharp and your certification valid.

Course Details

• Duration: 24 hours (3 days in-person)
• Cost: $375 – $470 (varies by location)
• Age requirement: 16+ years old
• Locations: Offered at varied locations worldwide

What to Expect from a NOLS WFR Recert Course

Your WFR recertification begins the moment you arrive. Expect to train in real scenarios from day one: assessing patients, managing scenes, and making treatment decisions.

NOLS instructors create environments that challenge you to think critically, communicate clearly, and act decisively. You’ll leave with renewed confidence in your ability to respond when it counts.

If your WFR certification has recently expired, you may still be eligible for this recertification course. Contact NOLS Wilderness Medicine for details on re-entry year eligibility.

Looking for a more flexible way to recertify?

The Hybrid WFR Recertification lets you complete the online coursework on your own timeline, then finish the hands-on training portion in 2 days instead of 3.

Online Resources

Check out these online resources ahead of time, because you’ll start the course with a written exam! You’ll learn both in the classroom and in outdoor settings regardless of weather, so come prepared for wet, muddy, cold or hot environments!

Prerequisites
Please check out our recertification policies to make sure you’re eligible to renew your certification.

Course Policies
Please review our policies including cancellation policies, attendance requirements, minimum age requirements, and more.

Also see our Hybrid Wilderness First Responder Recertification course.