Wilderness & Remote First Aid
| Course Details |
CANADIAN RED CROSS WILDERNESS & REMOTE FIRST AID
DURATION: 20hours
SETTING: OUTSIDE! Mother Nature permitting. Unique to each course scheduled.
SCHEDULING: Unique to each course scheduled.
COMPLETION: 100% attendance, skills demonstration, and 75% minimum on exam.
CERTIFICATE: Red Cross Wilderness & Remote First Aid with CPR-C/AED
VALIDATION: Certificate is valid for 3 years.
RECERTIFICATION: Prior to expiration date you may recertify through our Wilderness & Remote First Aid Recertification course. Expired certifications must take full course again.
| Pre-Requisites |
• None
• Prior training allows us to enhance what you know and apply it to a wilderness/remote setting.
• Even Paramedics/Nurses/Fire/Health Practitioners find this course helpful because it is set in a non-clinical setting where they do not have their equipment and trained team of people to assist.
| Who is this course for? |
Anyone who lives, works, or plays in rural, remote, or wilderness areas. This course is NOT exclusively for people who seek adventurous activities in the backcountry wilderness. We would like to emphasize that this course is for ANYONE who may be required to provide care in an emergency for more than 30 minutes or who may have extraordinary challenges in providing care until they care arrive at a medical facility. This course will cover the basic essentials required to assess injuries/illnesses and provide care for up to 24hours.
Examples of people who have attended this course:
• Rural farmers and family
• Recreational ATV / Snowmobile riders
• Recreational Hunting & Fishing enthusiasts
• Employees in Environmental and Exploration industries
• Outdoor Recreation adventurers (paddling, hiking, camping, boating, climbing, etc)
• Outdoor Educators and Leaders of specialty programs
• Youth involved in outdoor programs
• Horseback riders
• Remote Workplace employees
• Anyone who drives long distances in rural areas between urban centers
• Volunteer Responders in rural areas
• You.
This course should leave you wanting more training!
Wilderness & Remote First Aid training will:
• Introduce you to the skills & knowledge you need to assess injury or illness when you may not be able to access medical advice or Google.
• Provide some guidance on how to manage situational emergencies and evaluate the need and logistics to evacuate a sick/injured person
• Offer you suggestions on how to improvise bandaging, splinting, and injury care with what you normally would carry
• Give you ample opportunity to practice practical applications of splints, bandages, spinal management and hypothermia wraps
• Challenge your learning through scenarios staged with injuries/illnesses in settings directly correlational to your choice of activity
• Provide conversation on challenges in the backcountry including communications, navigation, short term survival and environmental factors
| Wilderness First Aid (WRFA) vs Standard First Aid (SFA) |
The WRFA 20hr course is almost equivalent to a 16hr Standard First Aid (on paper). Back40 recognizes that there is an immense difference between urban first aid and remote first aid. We strive to create a learning environment that is more parallel to common outdoor experiences. By learning outside you are constantly seeing (and experiencing) the effects of the environment around you while you learn skills and manage complications.
Back40 also fosters a HANDS ON approach to learning where students will be encouraged and guided through actually executing hands on skills. There is very little down time in our classes and if you are not practicing a skill you will most likely be in a scenario implementing it. For example:
• Bleeding checks to base layer or skin requires removal of clothing and exposure to inside layers
• Strategies to evaluate the severity of an unconscious patient’s condition
• Time to do thorough Primary and Secondary surveys, introducing SOAP notes
• Breathing checks and vital checks are done on different people in different positions;
• Spinal rolls are done in unusual positions, inconvenient spots, and with complicating patient conditions
• Creation and exploration of pressure bandages and improvised tourinquets – on yourself!
• Ample time to practice patient exposure management and utilize different industry common items such as emergency blankets, bivy sacks and personal clothing
• Creation of splints utilizing your own gear/clothing instead of uncommon items you likely do not carry
It is our hope to distinctly separate the student experience in a SFA from our WRFA classes. The actual methodologies and best practices taught in SFA are exact to WRFA but the environment and mindset is what sets the two apart.
However – please be reminded that in a short 20hour course there is barely enough time to cover the INTRODUCTION to all the first aid concepts. Consider the 20hr Wilderness & Remote First Aid Course to be a comprehensive introduction or EXPANSION of your first aid knowledge – but it may not feel like it was sufficient. We offer a 20hr Advanced Wilderness First Aid Bridge Course to upgrade to the 40hr advanced course or we also host the full 40hr Advanced Wilderness & Remote First Aid Course separately.
| Red Cross Course Content List |
1. Planning
2. Group & Personal Health
3. Assessment
- Scene
- Person: injury/illness
- Triage
4. Airway & Breathing Emergencies
5. Circulation Emergencies
6. Choking, CPR, & AED Skills
- Death in the wilderness
7. Head & Spinal Injuries
- Spinal immobilization
- Improvised C-collars
- Moving a patient
- Long term care considerations
8. Wound Care
9. Bone, Muscle, Joint Injuries
- Splints and slings
- Mobile and immobile patients
10. Sudden Medical Emergencies
11. Environmental Emergencies
- Heat related
- Cold related
- Hypothermia wraps
12. Poisons
13. Long Term Care Considerations
14. Evacuation Planning
Select your course dates & plan your next adventure!
Questions about our courses?
Check out our FAQ's or send us a message!
“Back40’s Wilderness first Aid should be required for all residents of Saskatchewan! If you work in remote areas, camp, fish, hunt, farm, hike, bike, walk n the city or drive on grid roads, you will find this training relevant, and potentially life saving. Typical first aid is a lot of reading, not much practice and often leaves you feeling more nervous than before. Back40’s Wilderness First Aid spends the majority of your time actually practicing skills, which not only benefits your skill level by being able to do it better, but it also boosts your confidence in your ability to apply first aid.”
Erin Tomlinson – Resource Management Technician, Meewasin Valley Authority
Eryn Tomlinson“This was by far the BEST first aid course I have ever taken in my life. The way she builds her scenarios are unique and realistic. And having to do this course outside made this even more lifelike…”
– Jean-Simon Lessard
Canadian Armed Forces
“…we do not only do it for ourselves, but for others that also enjoy the backcountry. It’s hard to understand the importance until you or your friend are the ones in need of help and find yourself questioning your actions…”
– Beau Drieschner
Saskatoon Search & Rescue
“…Highlights for me were the authentic and sustained scenarios, repetition of the full assessment sequence and the forms. I will be putting waterproofed copies in my pack!…”
– Daryll Sewell
North Corman Park Search & Rescue