Weekend 2: Wilderness First Aid

First aid training under the standardized Wilderness First Aid curriculum PLUS pertinent wilderness medicine topics regarding the southeastern ecosystem (weather, animals, critters, oh my)!

General Information

Definition: Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is the assessment of and treatment given to an ill or injured person in a remote environment where definitive care of a physician and/or rapid transport is not readily available.

In this WFA class, course participants will learn how to assess, treat, and, when possible, prevent medical and traumatic emergencies within the scope of their training.

Time is the essential element distinguishing wilderness first aid from standard first aid.

When calling 9-1-1 is not an immediate option, or when help could be an hour or even days away, the task of managing the injured and the ill will

challenge you beyond the first-aid knowledge and skills you will learn in this course.

Long hikes, extended lengths of rivers, large expanses of ocean, and miles of asphalt may separate the patient from a medical facility. You may have to endure heat or cold, rain, wind, or darkness.

The equipment needed for treatment and evacuation may have to be improvised from what is available, and communication with the “outside world” may be limited or nonexistent. Remote locations and harsh environments may require creative treatments. All these things may be a part of the world of WFA.

Schedule (subject to change):

EXTENDED WFA SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY

1:00 PM: Welcome and Housekeeping, pass handouts.” Wilderness Medicine Overview” (Yonge)

1:15 PM: Patient Assessment 1 (30 minutes)

1:45 PM: Patient Assessment 2 (1 hour total), practice session

2:45 PM: Chest Injuries (30 minutes) include demo of chest wound barrier

3:15 PM: Break

3:30 PM: “Deer Stand Injuries” (Yonge)

4:15 PM: “Large Animal attacks in the Southeast” (Yonge)

5:15 PM: Break for dinner preparation/camp set up.

7:30 PM: Evening Lecture: Envenomation (Plash)

8:30 PM: End of Day

SATURDAY

8:00 AM: Shock (30 minutes) (Plash)

8: 30 AM: Head (Brain) and Spine Injuries (1.5 Hours) (Plash)

10:00 AM: Break (15 minutes)

10:15 AM: Bone and Joint Injuries: 2 Hours (Maguire)

· Demonstrate construction of litters

· Scenarios

12:15 PM: Lunch

1:15 PM: Wounds and Wound Infections (2 Hours), demonstrate tourniquets and practice, wound irrigation practice (Yonge) (could add “Water Purification and Hygiene” here, time permitting)

3:15 PM: Break (15 minutes)

3:30 PM: Abdominal Problems: 30 minutes (Plash)

4:00 PM: Hypothermia (45 minutes) Demonstrate hypothermia wrap (Maguire)

4:45 PM: Bears! And Mushrooms! (Yonge)

5:00 PM: Break for Dinner

7:00 PM: Evening Lecture: “Shark Attacks” (Yonge)

8:00 PM: End of Day

SUNDAY

8:00 AM: Hyperthermia: 1 hour (Yonge)

9:00 AM: Lightning (30 minutes) (Maguire)

9:30 AM: Altitude Illnesses (30 minutes) (Plash)

10:00 AM: Submersions Incidents (30 Minutes)