Wilderness Medicine

Test your wilderness medicine skills with this case study! You are guiding a 7-day wilderness trip. One of your participants, Stan, is an insulin-dependent diabetic. At 5am, Stan's tentmate wakes you up saying, 'Stan is really sick.'

Two days into a picture-perfect autumn backpacking trip in the Wind River Mountains, your companion slips and falls on rocky terrain. His chief complaint: pain in his swollen and tender knee. You’re at mile 5 of a planned 20-mile loop. What do you do?

Test your knowledge with this case study about a patient with an ankle injury on a backcountry hunt.

Test your knowledge with this case study about a patient having breathing difficulty in a remote mountain setting

This case study focuses on how responders must be creative and thoughtful to adapt plans as they care for patients on a wilderness—not city—timeframe.

At 6:30 in the morning some of your participants come and tell you that their tentmate is complaining of abdominal pain. As the WFR-trained course leader, you go to their tent to investigate.

Five days into sea kayaking with friends in Prince William Sound, Alaska you feel lousy; some diarrhea, some vague abdominal cramping, not much appetite. You assume it's a touch of the flu and don't say anything. See what happens next and test your knowledge with this case study.

You and a friend are on a long run in the foothills of the Laramie Range in Wyoming. It’s a hot day. Four hours into the run your companion stumbles, slows, staggers, and sits on a log. He says he “feels awful.”

A trip participant has trouble on a rappel. When they are safely on the ground, you begin your patient assessment. Test your wilderness medicine skills with this case study.

When symptoms are hard to define, the skills of decision-making and problem solving become more important. Test what you know in this case study!

Do you know how to prevent, recognize, and treat a non-freezing cold injury (NFCI)? Test your wilderness medicine skills with this case study.

Knowing the SOAP note steps can help communicate accurate information to providers, which is especially useful now that more providers prefer a phone call before coming in with an ailment or injury

Do you know the proper protocols for a patient with a suspected spine injury?

Do you know how to test an ankle injury for usability?

Do you know how to prevent, recognize, and treat a non-freezing cold injury (NFCI)? Test your wilderness medicine skills with this case study.

This case study tests how well you can adapt when your patient has a potential life threat.

Always start with the first 5 steps of the scene size-up when responding to an emergency.

You've spotted a fallen hiker on the trail: thinking back to your NOLS Wilderness Medicine course, do you remember how to perform an initial assessment?

This case study tests how well you can adapt when you're responsible for not just one patient, but an entire group.

Test your wilderness medicine knowledge with this case study about a patient with flu-like symptoms that may be related to a tick-borne illness.

You're a first responder helping a patient who was bucked off their horse. The assessment might reveal something more troubling than what meets the eye…

Test your knowledge about caring for patients who may have head injuries with this wilderness medicine case study.

So many abbreviations, so little time! Take a look at these need-to-know acronyms for wilderness medicine.

Test your knowledge with a case study based on a real event in the '80s where Wilderness First Responders aided a hiker suffering from weakness and lethargy.