Edmond resident completes 80-day wilderness expedition in Patagonia

Joe Romano, 20, of Edmond, recently completed a fall semester in Patagonia with NOLS. Expedition courses at NOLS take students of all ages into remote wilderness areas where instructors teach students technical outdoor skills, leadership, and environmental ethics. In 1974, NOLS invented the outdoor semester. Now each year, 800 students spend a semester with NOLS learning new skills, exploring new ideas, and making new friends surrounded by the wilderness.

NOLS is a nonprofit, global wilderness school that educates students to step forward on an expedition, wilderness medicine, custom education or risk services offering. Graduates have a lifelong desire for leadership, commitment to continued skills development, and ongoing education. 

Romano and his 14 course mates began their semester at NOLS Patagonia in Coyhaique, Chile, where they received their Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification. During the two day WFA course emphasis was placed on learning the Patient Assessment System, providing effective first aid treatments for injuries and illnesses common in the outdoors, and making appropriate evacuation decisions.

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