[at-l] Rescue at Rice Field Shelter

Fri Apr 2 08:57:14 CDT 2010

Actually, I have been trained and certified as an EMT-B urban, rural, and wilderness (SOLO) certification in Colorado, Texas, and North Carolina.  My last certification was a few years ago.  Like all medicine, one needs to keep up, learning all the new stuff.  It's amazing the details that one can forget or how different the training about anything can be from time period to time period (for instance, CPR and snake bite). 

I began doing this because I kept coming onto auto accidents on highways as either the first or second person there.  It was frustrating to know only vaguely or not at all what to do.  (No cell phones then.)  Also, I lived where there wasn't much medical help available and, as you know, loved to be in the back country.  It also was halpful when I applied to become a National Park ranger at Rocky Mountain NP.

Ultimately though, I learned that it was to protect me from the well-meaning people who might come upon me after a serious injury.  They are so willing to help, but they may/may not know exactly what to do.  Unless I am unconscious, I can communicate with them about what needs to be done (not a la TV program but actually).

I am not current right now but have not had the money to take a class.  I have felt naked without the current training, but, as Mara said, there is review of materials and, also, one can do some research.  At this point I'd take the Wilderness First Responder class, but that is because it goes deeper into the "why" rather than just "what to do."

John's account has him digging into his brain, remembering guidelines and priorities.  When he acted, he acted because he was pretty sure it was the right thing to do.  If you have to flounder, well, you suffer and so can the patient.  

This is my note of encouragement to all to go to the trouble and whatever expense to receive this training.  Just consider it an expensive (but not any more expensive than a lot of stuff we purchase to be comfortable and safe on the trail), very light weight piece of great backpacking equipment.  The training is kinda fun too.

Sawnie
(KInnickinic)

-----Original Message-----
From: Mara Factor <mfactor at gmail.com>
To: Black Wolfe <blackwolfe at charter.net>
Cc: at-l <at-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Fri, Apr 2, 2010 8:19 am
Subject: Re: [at-l] Rescue at Rice Field Shelter

I'm pretty sure she meant Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training.  While WFR is a great idea, it's a huge commitment, taking about 80 hours.  It's also prohibitively expensive for many hikers at about $400.  (According tot he SOLO web site.)

Wilderness First Aid (WFA) training, taking only 2 days, is a course most hikers who spend a lot of time in the backcountry could find time and resources to take.  It costs about $85.  

I recommend WFA training.  It goes well beyond what is taught in urban First Aid classes.  Rather than the golden hour, you're taught to deal with the golden day, the longer timer period necessary for evacuation from the backcountry.  And it doesn't start with the recommendation in emergencies to yell "call 911."  Hmm, or at least, it didn't 11+ years ago when I took the class.

Though my training was a long time ago and I haven't be recertified at all, I do review my WFA materials from time to time and the training has come in useful a surprising number of times.

Mara
Stitches, AT99

Visit my Travels and Trails web site at: http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor

On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 5:52 AM, Black Wolfe <blackwolfe at charter.net> wrote:

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 8:41 PM, kinnickinichere wrote:

> To me it reinforces my belief that we need to have 
> woofer training and, if possible, a partner out there.

======================================

I have not heard the term "woofer training" before.  Can you elaborate?

Black Wolfe
Bruce W.

_______________________________________________
at-l mailing list
at-l at backcountry.net
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l

_______________________________________________
t-l mailing list
t-l at backcountry.net
ttp://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://patsy.hack.net/pipermail/at-l/attachments/20100402/a243543f/attachment.html 