Course Length: 36 hours (CPR is integrated into the course)
Certifications Received and Certification Duration:
Wilderness Advanced First Aid – 2 years
Adult & Child CPR – 2 years
Course Description
The 36-hour Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) course is fast-paced, challenging, hands-on and fun & for students who have little or no experience in first aid or wilderness medicine. This specific course enables more hands-on skills and scenarios than a traditional 16-hour Wilderness First Aid. It is ideal for organizations looking to ensure its employees are trained and prepared for deployments into the backcountry setting.
The course is designed with scenario at the heart of the learning experience. We emphasize hands on practice of skills and assessments of patients.
The course covers basic emergency medicine topics such as airway management, breathing emergencies, circulatory problems, and environmental concerns. We include common medical emergencies such as diabetes, seizures, asthma, and anaphylaxis. We emphasis trauma with in depth discussions and hands on training with splinting, bleeding control, and wound management. We also discuss legalities within wilderness medicine and SOAP note documentation.
Along with basic medical and trauma concerns we discuss how these emergencies can be addressed in a wilderness environment. This includes topics such as evacuation, litter construction, backcountry communications, and decision-making.
A Wilderness Advanced First Aid certification is valid for 2 years. After your certification expires you simply need to retake the class to renew.