WFA Certification!

At last I managed to get registered for a WFA course before it filled up!  This one was hosted by REI at Bailey's Crossing but NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) WMI (Wilderness Medicine Institute).  For those that don't know, WFA is simply Wilderness First Aid - very similar to your standard front country First Aid course, but with additional instruction for backcountry support.  There is also the Wilderness First Responder (WFR or Woofer) course, a much longer and in depth version.

The certification requires 16 hours of classroom time, and covers all the basics of scene evaluation, patient evaluation, treatment and evacuation decisions.  I found a lot of overlap with previous first aid and CPR courses I've had, and having my knowledge refreshed was very helpful.  There was also a lot of new info on treatment.  In front country (urban) first aid, you basically do only the most cursory of evaluations and treatment and then wait for the paramedics.  In a wilderness setting, you might be all your patient has for hours, or days.  The training and treatment we learned reflected that.

I found the course on a whole informative and fun.  The instructors Ted and Becca were a great resource.  Ted had obviously been around the block a few times, and Becca was an experienced Ski Patrol medic - both had plenty of stories to share about injuries and mis-adventure!  Examples of wilderness injuries were passed around.  I was particularly amused by the frost bite pictures.  Turns out the mild frost nip I had this past winter was actually partial thickness frostbite.  Whoops!

Head wound from an errant bear line toss!

Other simply skills were learned like properly taking a sprained or strained ankle to allow supported movement I most certainly could have used a few times.  I'm positive I'll need this particular skill again!  We also practiced with improvised splints.  We discovered my Therarest Z-seat pad made an excellent arm splint at only 2 ounces, and I learned a cool splint 'stitching' technique using climbing webbing.



The class was a mix of instruction and play-acting as we took turns being patients and medics.  Moulage blood and makeup was used liberally.  I found I was especially good at playing the totally unresponsive victim. The class was definitely very hands on!

I liked the instruction on using supplies that the 'pros' use.  Suture strips, transparent badges, 2nd skin burn pads and the like.  They all make wound care and dressing so much easier.  I'm looking forward to the next time someone really slices themselves up!  Sadly, this will probably be myself.  Considering the increasing rate at which I've been injuring myself, it's only a matter of time.