Wmi Wilderness First Responder Course - Nols: Fill & Download for Free

Rescue would be top on my list for the next course to take. Being prepared to assist a fellow diver in distress is also a great confidence builder for the individual diver. You can add to this by taking a DAN oxygen course. Then take every opportunity to stay current in CPR, first aid, and basic rescue techniques. Heck, take a Wilderness First Responder course from NOLS/WMI to really get better at the basics of helping sick/injured people in the field (water). Clearly my status as an Emergency RN influences this opinion :)

Living in Colorado, where we've seen a massive influx of people in the past roughly two years, I am often asked some variation of this question (like clockwork around May and October as people get psyched for the two big seasons).Whether it is the most valuable piece of equipment, best gear to buy, best trail to hike, best [insert outdoor related interest here], my answer is always the same: your brain. While that may sound trite or dismissive, it really isn't. You can have purchased all the high-speed/low-drag top-of-the-line best money can buy equipment available but, if you don't know how to properly use it or keep your head, I'll be more effective with a pocket knife and a fire starter.The first thing anyone should do before they go into the backcountry at all is take a first aid class. If you think you're safe because all you do is hike local trails and you took first aid in Boy Scouts, you're setting yourself up for a big big problem (nothing against the Boy Scouts, it's where I got my start both learning and teaching both First Aid and Wilderness Survival). You need to take a 16hr Wilderness First Aid class (Boy Scouts teach those now). Doesn't matter with whom (WMA, NOLS/WMI, Aerie Backcountry Med are the top choices and WMA is literally the pioneer in the field), but take one. I teach the Backcountry Medicine courses for the Colorado Mountain Club and think it's a pretty good class at an incredibly affordable rate, but it isn't a WMA or NOLS/WMI course.The next piece of equipment for your brain is a land navigation course. No, a GPS or your cell phone don't count. You need to learn how to use a map and compass, how to triangulate your position (if your instructor doesn't know what both declination and back azimuth are, or doesn't teach you, get your money back and take a different course).Next piece of equipment you should get is a basic weekend wilderness survival course (add Avi 1 if you're spending time in the backcountry in times of snow).As you may have guessed, the best physical equipment you can have accompanies those courses: a first aid kit (a real kit, not a pre made off the shelf kit but the kind you learn how to build for your needs in that WFA class you took), a compass (my personal favorite is the Sylva Ranger II because of its simplicity, versatility and usefulness, but everyone has a favorite), and some basic survival equipment (you should learn about this in both the WFA and Wilderness Survival courses, but some basics include a good whistle like the Fox 40, flint and steel, bear spray with which you've practiced, and a few other tidbits).Some will claim this is all overkill and unnecessary, tell you how unlikely it is to have a problem and how many resources are available to help if you run into one, even throw in some anecdotes and a laundry list of credentials to support it. Others may say it's too much work to go through all that just for some quick easy hikes (“sure if your mountain climbing ot backpacking for days on end, but overkill for day hikes”). I've worked with Search and Rescue and let me give you a couple of things to think about. If you're injured and need assistance being carried out, over flat ground by a team of 12 people in constant movement, it can take several hours just to move a person a few miles (from the time they are picked up, not including time to call for help, help to organize, respond, carry all the gear to you, etc). If they have to carry you down a slope or uneven trail, 1/2 mile can take 18hrs on a good day. Infection rates begin to set in at 4, 8 (hands and feet), 12 and 18 hrs. On Ski Patrol it was always good to know that someone was with the patient who knew what they were doing while we were on the way; yes, it's our job to treat the patient but no, we can't just be everywhere on the mountain in an instant (we work really hard at it, but sometimes it takes a while even in bounds).Two students of mine last summer were on a day hike on a very popular local trail when, in the early morning of it, a girl reported her friend having fallen from some rocks in need of help. When they reached her, they found that their now patient had fallen 20′ from a rock while eating. They stabilized her and addressed immediate life threats, coordinated rescue efforts and assisted with the Evac (which they wrote to tell me about that evening when they finally got home). They were able to do this because they had taken a couple of weekends to learn how. They weren't carrying more than a light day pack with a decent first aid kit, but they were the only people amongst the few hundred who frequented the trail that day who did and knew what to do (it's a very popular trail right outside a very “outdoorsy" town). What never came into the conversation was anything about boots or backpacks or watches or sunglasses or trekking poles (though those are great for both first aid and survival).Your brain. Fill it with information. You don't need to go become a WFR or WEMT, just get the basics. Start with wilderness specific first aid, then land navigation, then wilderness survival. Three weekends tops. The gear will follow and, once you have the knowledge, you won't be asking people on Quora what gear to get because you'll already know how to get there on your own.