# Advanced wilderness life support?



## Summit (Jul 1, 2013)

Has anyone taken the WMS's 2-day AWLS class? Thoughs? Comments? Content?


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## wanderingmedic (Jul 16, 2013)

I was interested in this too. Getting info on these classes is never easy thou. It would be really great if these courses could count as CE's or as refresher courses to help keep licensees current.

Did you look at this? Just curious...also wanted to bump this thread in hopes of keeping it alive....


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## CFal (Jul 16, 2013)

azemtb255 said:


> I was interested in this too. Getting info on these classes is never easy thou. It would be really great if these courses could count as CE's or as refresher courses to help keep licensees current.
> 
> Did you look at this? Just curious...also wanted to bump this thread in hopes of keeping it alive....



It does count as CE to the best of my knowledge, and even if it wasn't registered officially as a CE class you can usually call up the state and get credit for it anyways.  In MA you can get credit just by attending a childbirth if you call OEMS.


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## medicdan (Jul 16, 2013)

I am also interested... if anyone here has taken it, please let me know, i'd like to learn of your experiences.


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## Luno (Jul 17, 2013)

I'm debating on attending the one in Big Sur, but I'm not sure yet... I'll post if I do.


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## Mutumbo (Aug 2, 2013)

Last year i took the RMAP with Remote Medical International near Seattle.  Long story short, it was BY FAR one of the best, most fun and informative classes ive taken to date. The instructors were EXTREMELY knowledgeable and were willing to discuss any topic at length until everyone understood. 

The days were broken up with scenarios based on what the lecture was at the time. And they were REALISTIC. For instance, during the hypothermia/exposure lecture another student and I jumped in the lake(we were in Washington with 50* ambient temps and a water temp in the LOW 40s), and got hypothermic quick. The rest of the class stripped us down to our boxxers, did a proper hypo wrap(blankets, space blanket...) and had to carry us back to the base camp about a 1/8th mile up rocky terrain in a stokes basket where we got warm showers. 

Another scenario was a SAR scenario which lasted about 6 hours, in which we had to locate our patient, build a shelter, a fire, and dig in for the night with supplies we packed in, as rescue couldnt come until the morning. Mind you this is during the rainy muggy season of northern washington.

I dont want to give away too much but our "final exam" was BIG, fun and lasted several hours, challenging us both physically and mentally.  

The class format was more of a "sharing of information" over "this is how we do things, either do it this way or your wrong". Basically every skill was begun with the instructor saying "this is the best way we have figured out how to do this, if anyone has any different ideas please feel free to speak up, we're here to learn too". (Things like doing a single person log roll, carries...)Obviously things like basic suturing, and advanced airway skills, where there is only one correct way to do said skill they showed us the proper way to do them and we were expected to perform accordingly. 

I took this class on a whim, it semed fun, a different and new experience to expand my medical knowledge, I left it with a new found passion, and likely a new career path. It was that much fun. 

Honestly, I cant recommend this class enough, I plan on taking it again, just for the fun of it, even though my license dosent expire for a few years.


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## mycrofft (Aug 3, 2013)

I haver to share my buzzkiller attitude here.

Actually, no I don't . Have fun. And insist on knowing how to interact with helicopters.


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## Carlos Danger (Aug 4, 2013)

Summit said:


> Has anyone taken the WMS's 2-day AWLS class? Thoughs? Comments? Content?



I took it a few years ago in NC. It was pretty cool.


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## Roy51 (Aug 7, 2013)

*Summit's signature*

The only 2 acute pathologies are trauma and toxins. The rest of the modern pathology requires years and decades to create an acute event; if possible to manage or reverse, it takes years. :huh:

I just noticed the above.  The originator of that statement must have never heard of the hemorrhagic fever virus diseases, inhalational anthrax, plague...


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## VFlutter (Aug 7, 2013)

Roy51 said:


> The only 2 acute pathologies are trauma and toxins. The rest of the modern pathology requires years and decades to create an acute event; if possible to manage or reverse, it takes years. :huh:
> 
> I just noticed the above.  The originator of that statement must have never heard of the *hemorrhagic fever virus diseases, inhalational anthrax, plague*...



 I can assure you the originator of that statement is well aware of the conditions you mentioned. The statement is exaggerated a bit but it is a still a true concept. The majority of what we see is an acute exacerbation of chronic illnesses which took years to develop. We sometimes naively believe that we can cure or fix these problems in a matter of minutes during our transport when the reality is quite the opposite. 

And I would argue infectious diseases and anthrax would fall under the "Toxin" category


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## Roy51 (Aug 8, 2013)

Chase said:


> And I would argue infectious diseases and anthrax would fall under the "Toxin" category



You could argue it, but it would be incorrect.  VHFs, for example, have no known toxins associated with them; they're purely infectious replicators.  I can PM you the definitive reference on the subject that I co-authored and just came out in a new edition (and my predominant training is toxicology, not infectious disease!  How insane is that!?).  If we were talking about botulism or tetanus, you'd have an argument for a toxic proximal pathology, no doubt.


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