Wilderness prehospital emergency medicine training: worth it?

[mycrofft]

If you have undertaken a class in this genre (either first aid, EMT, or other), can you please share with the rest of us what level it was , was it worthwhile and why?

I'd say please also include the urban equivalents ("prepper" ems).

(I would not be surprised to see relies varying from ski patrol to CERT members).

 

[Summit]

The answer is: for whom? I'm sure for many students, they are merely "playing in the woods." Good CEs.

What can you get out of it? Primarily mindset and improvisation practice/techniques.

For most providers, the courses are really good at teaching improvised care, making some care decisions with limited resources and extended extrication, and some best practices that are different in the wilderness setting.

For EMS providers specifically, I think courses like WEMT upgrade etc also help enforce the idea of preventing problems and thinking beyond 5, 10, 15, 30 minutes, thinking about limited resources and wilderness extrication, etc when making care decisions and plans.

There are also gee-whiz improvisations that nobody (besides the instructor) would remember how to do, much less implement, in the real world. My favorite example is the rope litter. It looks neat, requires practice, and sucks when done correctly. But I can surely go grab a book, Dr. Aurebach's giant wilderness cornucopia or ASHI's Wilderness manual and see an example of how to make your very own rope litter. Sure, I learned how to improvise a traction splint from ski poles or paddles and webbing... they were even timed drills. I could still make one, but I doubt I ever would.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I've say in on lots of OEC courses but I'm not certified. I learned a few cool tricks but a lot of it was use your brain.

Or as House would say...Don't be an idiot! :lol:

 

[MrJones]

If you have undertaken a class in this genre (either first aid, EMT, or other), can you please share with the rest of us what level it was , was it worthwhile and why?

I'd say please also include the urban equivalents ("prepper" ems).

(I would not be surprised to see relies varying from ski patrol to CERT members).

Was it worthwhile? Yes. Or no. Or kinda-sorta. Or....

In other words, it's impossible to answer until you define "worthwhile". Do you mean did it lead to an improvement in my general assessment and treatment skills? More money? Personal satisfaction? Some other aspect that defines "worthwhile" in your mind? Just because something is worthwhile to me, it doesn't follow that it's necessarily worthwhile to you or anyone else.

 

[mycrofft]

Was it worthwhile? Yes. Or no. Or kinda-sorta. Or....

In other words, it's impossible to answer until you define "worthwhile". Do you mean did it lead to an improvement in my general assessment and treatment skills? More money? Personal satisfaction? Some other aspect that defines "worthwhile" in your mind? Just because something is worthwhile to me, it doesn't follow that it's necessarily worthwhile to you or anyone else.

Yes.

Any and all of the above. When it was over did you use it? Was it worth the money? Get a cert you could use on the job? Nice patch for your down survival vest?

 

[mycrofft]

Rock down a well.

 

[OnceAnEMT]

The SAR team I am on is doing a WFR... well, maybe its WFA, probably WFA... course this summer. Depending on how that goes, I might look to do the WEMT upgrade, just to have the extra knowledge, especially with SAR. That said, I wish they were a bit more frequent, and local. I honestly can't seem myself traveling out of state for that kind of cert. Ah well.