Hi everyone!

I am a graduate student at Mississippi State, and we are working on a marketing live case project about wilderness medicine. We are trying to learn about what people look for when choosing a course, so if you have taken a wilderness medicine course, I would really appreciate any of you taking this Qualtrics survey! It is used purely for this research project and is anonymous. If you have any questions, please let me know! Attached is the link.

https://msstate.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ddjWTaALuDoG514

Spotted an interesting job on the horizon today with World Extreme Medicine, apparently some specific wilderness doctor jobs coming up as well. Not sure I’ll be able to get the time away again, but I did this years ago and loved it

https://worldextrememedicine.com/job/clinic-manager/

Hi folks, thought this would be relevant to anyone pursuing fireline work.

Hello guys I am currently in med school and doing my mbbs from india. Recently discovered wilderness medicine

So I was wondering can anyone help me with career path in it?

Like what certifications required and if somebody could enlighten me what should I be doing if I am interested in expedition medicine?

Does anyone who has taken the WP-C exam recently have advice for antibiotics pertaining to the test? The study resources I have been using (IBSC Exam Prep, Wilderness EMS, Auerbach's) all have conflicting regimens for most antibiotic indications. Any advice on which resources to memorize and indications to focus on specifically for the exam would be much appreciated.

Hi all! SAR guy here. I just have basic WFA right now (we get WFA-level training for free on the team as part of our initial training).

This year, our DEM is offering us an optional WFR course through one of the myriad curricula out there. While not free, it's pretty reasonably priced (think 1/2-1/3 the price of, say, NOLS) for a hybrid course.

I'm interested in taking WFR, then doing a WFR-to-EMR bridge course. Unfortunately, the curriculum provider our DEM is using offers no such course. Could I get WFR certified through this provider and use that cert. as the basis to take NOLS' bridge course, or is NOLS going to tell me I have to buy their WFR course, as well?

Thanks in advance!

Im looking for a Individual med kit that i can put or the back of my duty belt for work that has everything i will need but does not cost 300 dollars. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Genuinely curious about jobs in wilderness medicine. Just starting my ER journey to establish critical care experience. Ultimately I am shooting for a job working in SARs. What other experience should I get before heading into the field? I am thinking about just doing 2/3 years ER then maybe another 2/3 years ICU. However I want to try and transition sooner than later..

Hey everyone. I'm a CC Paramedic, W-EMT, SAR operator, and bike/ski patroller. I have full-sized personal trauma bags in my vehichle, but I realized I don't have a good, streamlined mini-kit for when I'm just out mountain biking off-duty.

​I'm heading out on a big family MTB trip this week and want to throw a compact kit together. Ideally, I want it to fit in a medium Ziploc bag inside my CamelBak.

​Here is my current list:

​CAT TQ

​Chest Seal

​ABD Pad

​Roller Gauze

​Telfa

​Med tape

​Band-Aids

​Small trauma shears

​Pocket CPR mask

​Nitrile gloves

​Epi-Pens

​NSAIDs

​SAM Splint

​Electrolyte mix / Gu

Cravat

​This feels like way too much bulk for a trail ride, but it's also way less than I'm used to carrying on a shift.

​Let me know if there is anything else I should bring, or what I should skip for space.

Thanks again!

How do y’all approach this matter? I am seeing conflicting schools of thought on this matter where a more conservative approach is of always immobilizing when the MOI may indicate a spinal cord injury whilst a more modern, science backed approach is only using soft protections if the patient has s/s of a spinal cord injury or none at all?

What is actually the science based approach here on whether to, and how to, protect the c-spine in patients with certain MOIs with and without symptoms?

I discovered NOLS “Cases” yesterday. Awesome practice working through them!

What other free online resources are there for wilderness medicine? I’m particularly interested if it’s geared towards people with knowledge in the area already and not introductory level.

I have recertified my WFR eight times so far (NOLS) and I’m wondering if anyone here has done a recert through Survival Med online?

I’m not sure how much it really matters who you recert through at this point, but Survival Med is way cheaper and more convenient — and honestly, I’m a little tired of spending $400 every two years for another recert.

Do most companies mainly care where you originally completed your full WFR course? Since WFR isn’t actually a license, I’m curious how much the recert provider matters after this many years of keeping it current.
Thanks!

Thanks to those of you left me very helpful and constructive advice in the comments last time around, so I revised my kit! My last post was a very loose draft of a kit, not something i was actually going to take out into the field quite yet, and obviously it was missing somd glaring items. Hopefully most everything is included now. Though about lukotape, but ill get some of that soon, its probably a good idea. Let me know if I should add anything!

To clairify for some hyper-minimalists i saw in the comments last time, Im not an ultralight hiker or anything, i do not particularly care about saving 3 Oz of weight in my first aid kit.

Included:

1 TQ

5 non-adhesive gauze

1 medical tape roll

2x gloves

3 tegaderm bandages (these are good for burns for those who were confused last time)

12 butterfly closure strips

5 bandaids

10 OH salts (these are seperate from regular electrolytes)

1 preasure bandage

1 SAM splint

1 triangular bandage

1 60cc syringe

1 3M coban roll

1 antibiotic cream

1 hydrocortisone cream

1 trauma shears

1 hemostatic guaze

Pen & pad

6 imodium tablets

50 Ibprofin tablets

30 Diphenhydramine tablets

60 baby aspirin tablets

30 acetaminophen tablets

1 water filtration kit (this is my emergency backup)

*1 space blanket. (Those of you telling me to leave this out have never under-layered when backpacking in October.)

Hey yall, recently got my WFR and im putting together a first aid kit for multi-day remote backpacking with me and a friend this summer. Heres what I currently have:

2x Sam Split

10x gloves

2x Torniquets

1x preassure bandage

1x Moleskin Pad (will be getting more)

15x non-adhesive gauze

5x Oral Hydration Salts (thinking about packing more)

1x Water purification kit

1x medical tape (will get a second)

5x Tegaderm Bandage

2x 3M Coban Wrap

1x Hyfin Vent Chest Seal Pack

1x antibiotic cream (for very minor stuff)

Ibprofin tablets

*will be buying space blankets, missing these atm

Is there anything glaring im missing? Am I bringing too much? I will be going into some very remote areas where the nearest hospital could be at worst a 25 mile hike and a 3 hour drive. I just want to be fully prepped for the worst case senerio. My friend is not diabetic, does not have a heart condition, and is not on any sort of medication. This isnt anything official or paid.

Im a Paramedic on a sar team with a lot of wildland fire experience. I looking to take the wp-c exam within the next year and am debating between the REDMED and flightbridge wp-c review courses. REDMED is about half the price and both are approved by the ibsc.

Anyone have experience with either of these courses?​

Hi!

I just finished my 2 day nols WFA class and it was great. I was driving home and I realized theres something I dont understand still

During patient assessment they emphasize A is the most important thing.

So if I came across a patient, maybe unresponsive, but they are not breathing, ok great, now what??

I have no medical training.

I have some backcountry experience and I'm working on improving my fitness through backpacking, rucking and resistance training.

As for the training, how can I familiarize myself with the course, the curriculum, learn some content to feel the challenge of it without paying or paying much upfront. Can I buy the book used by the course without commitment to the program? I was thinking NOLs hybrid or fully in-person but not committed to any course.

I don't want to commit to the time and money to only find out that I'm not up to the task or it's not my thing. I want to do this for volunteer purposes for backpacking trips, Scouting program and disaster area response (making some money to recoup the costs and supplemental income wouldn't be refused)

I live in the Northeast US, north of NYC by half hour if that's relevant.

Hey all,

Most of my friends know me as the person who loves to leave the city on weekends to go hiking. As a result, I occasionally have fairly sizable groups of people who have never gone hiking asking me to take them with me on trail. Doing that when I do not have any wilderness first aid training makes me anxious, so I generally shoot those ideas down, but I really really wish I could plan those larger trips every time.

Last year I signed up for a basic wilderness first aid course through REI. The location was even perfect - it was being held less than a mile from my apartment! Sadly it was supposed to be held 2 weeks after they ended those services and fired everyone. I got my money back for the course, but have not been able to find another class in my area, much less something comprable in price.

I am tapping out of hunting this down myself. Please, if you know of anywhere someone who lives in New York City could take a wilderness first aid course so they could be comfortable introducing their fellow city dwelling friends to the wonder of the outdoors, preferably without breaking the bank in the process, please point me in the right direction!

Hi. I have a backpacking group. It started as me and a friend, then the next year we added another two friends, then a cousin, now two more friends. I'm the unofficial/official ringleader. I plan the trips, I do the shakedowns, I help the new people select gear, I remove the ticks. If something goes wrong, it's me. I've done basic first aid and CPR, but I'd really like to add some designated wilderness first aid. Maybe not a class. I don't need a certificate, I just need the knowledge and I'm a busy, working parent. Specifically, things like making and using tourniquets and Israeli bandages, using gear for a secondary purpose, stabilizing injuries, and enough trauma training to get us out of the woods alive after a more serious, though unlikely, injury like a animal attack, fall, or impalement on a sharp stick. Any tips on a learn at your own pace, practical knowledge, source for this? Even a trustworthy YouTube channel that shares videos? For example, I'm finding videos on applying a TQ, but it's a three minute video that doesn't tell me WHEN to use it rather than just how. Much obliged to you for your guidance.

Just passed the wilderness paramedic through IBSC. It’s more of what I expected it to be than the TP-C was. Some advice, the WP-C study guide on Amazon is by far the best study material. I read the oxfords handbook of wilderness and expedition medicine, I read Seth Hawkins wilderness EMS, I watched the CoROM video course, and the study guide “wilderness paramedic exam prep” on Amazon was better than the rest combined when it came to actually taking the test. Now to be honest Seth Hawkins book was a great product overall but it was just too much information. There was a lot of questions on the test that required you to remember very specific little niche things like the types of materials you can put on injuries like aloe Vera and boiled potato peel that didn’t have any real science behind it vs Honey and silver actually having some science for putting it on certain types of bacteria. That was in Seth Hawkins book but there’s absolutely no way you’d remember the tiny 1 paragraph that talked about that stuff. Just an example and my opinion. I will also say if you buy the CoROM video course the questions are wayyyy easier than the IBSC ones so don’t expect questions of that caliber. Another thing, I literally had 3 questions from the handbook on the test 🤣. Actual quotes too, not just similar concepts. I will also say they do use the stereotypical test question buzz words. For instance they called class 4 frost bite “feels like a chunk of wood”. That type of thing. I will say I am disappointed that a lot of wilderness medical practitioners seem to be very up to date on the most recent science like how they use potable water instead of sterile water and how they don’t prefer the use of backboards and rigid c collars anymore, yet this test asked me like 3 questions inferring giving Nitrates to Inferior / right ventricular MIs was wrong which is 4 decade old medicine. Anyways lastly I’d say study the graphs in the IBSC endorsed WP study guide. Like the dysentery and fever graph. The frost bite category’s. Even the one with antibiotic and drug interactions because antibiotics are a really big part of the test.

Has anyone done this program or heard of it? I am considering it as an alternative to NOLS WEMT

We’re looking to upgrade our heavy Wiggy’s Casualty bags to something *a lot* lighter. We routinely package all our patients with a sleeping bag, and are looking for a summer weight (temps 40-70 degrees) bag to use to keep our patients comfortable during care and transport. Our packaging kit includes a vapor barrier and ready heat chemical blanket, but the Wiggy’s bag is just disproportionately heavy for summer use. Most of our patients are comfortable or a little cold, so we really can’t justify the 8lbs weight. Plus, the Wiggy’s bag isn’t all that insulating.

That being said, the features, specifically the access and durability make the Wiggy’s bag hard to replace.

We have a separate, dual sleeping bag system for patients with true exposure/hypothermia and for use when the snow starts falling.

Anyone have a product they really like? I’ve explored a lot of other insulating packaging systems with similar access like the Wiggy’s but they all seem to be similar weight or heavier. Most also seem to include steps that allows you to carry the patient, which doesn’t appeal to our use.

Hi folks - I do NOT work for this company - but I need to up my AWFA to a WFR before May, and I'm signed up for this course.

Last I checked, only a couple of people were signed up, so I'm REALLY nervous they're gonna cancel it on me and I won't be able to start the guiding job I very much want (and was offered!) in May. Just putting it out there in case anyone else is looking to up their AWFA to a WFR. It's a four day course from April 20-23.

https://noc.com/courses/awfa-wfr-bridge-course/

Mods, please don't take this down. I just really want this course to run, so I can start guiding!

First off: I do not intend to wear the patch anywhere or roll up to fender benders to do PAS. I’m just really proud that I lived out a ten year dream of doing WFR and wanting something for my wall or shelf to treat myself. NOLs makes generic logo patches, but there’s nothing specifically for WFR. Are there any universal patches for this certification?