This weekend I took part in a Wilderness First Aid class by Med Training Group. They're a new outfit, but I couldn't really tell from the level of professionalism in this class. The level of instruction was phenomenal - they had to stop answering so many questions in such depth, or risk falling behind and needing an extra day to cover the material! The staff, made up of surgeons, 18D's, PA's, and EMTs have been there and done that in terms of dealing with life-or-death emergencies in austere and resource-constrained environments - from IEDs in remote war-torn regions, to military training exercises in the field, to civilian medical careers in ambulances, ER's, and zoos. Chris Way, an EMT and world-class climber and mountaineer, brought a lot of the cold-weather and altitude material to life. Suffice it to say, nothing in the material was theoretical to the instructors, and that made a huge difference in the instruction.
This was never more obvious than in the hands-on scenarios. There were about 8 scenarios with dummies and role-playing "victims." The moulage was copious, and I will soon find out how well the fake blood washes out. The instructors have a lot of experience running high-intensity events and are masters of the art of inducing stress. Scene safety was emphasized with additional casualties. (I "passed out" from ammonia gas after running in to help a fallen camper - luckily there were a few WFA's-in-training there to "save my life." It was interesting to have the lessons applied to me as well as by me.)
Med Training Group are certified to certify, so now I have my WFA, which has been a goal of mine for some time. I certainly feel many times more confident to deal with emergent situations in the back country - or even at the gun range, which as some of you know, is where I find myself semi-regularly. I would enthusiastically recommend Med Training Group if they come to your area. Or do what we did: organize some buddies and get a custom class going in your area!
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