Becoming A Wilderness First Responder
The view from my yurt at Adventure Unlimited Ranches near Buena Vista, CO hosted by Colorado Outside .
Until a month-or-so ago, I had no idea what a Wilderness First Responder was. I had never even heard of the term. Being from the sticks, an hour and a half away from the blue-collar working city of Cleveland, not many people have heard of a Wilderness First Responder, let alone gaining the certification to be considered one. There is no pressing need to have these skills when you are almost always a call away from having an ambulance en route to your exact location. That said, some of us in Ohio who are outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen work, live, and play in places where medical help is not so close. These places we refer to as the “backcountry”. A fall from a treestand, a twisted ankle on a hike, or a cut to the hand while fishing on Lake Erie can be a much bigger problem in the backcountry than it would be in the “frontcountry” (close to medical care). When you are in the backcountry, if something goes south you will need to help yourself until first responders can get to you or you can get to them.
The above point heard you may still be a bit confused about what exactly a Wilderness First Responder is. Let me explain. A Wilderness First Responder is someone who is certified in a level of medical training that is specifically suited to be used in backcountry applications where a level of higher care is not available. Think of it as a sort of advanced backcountry first-aid. If your buddy breaks his ankle or has an allergic reaction deep in the woods, this course teaches you what steps to take in order to help him out. It dives not only into medical treatment but also touches on evacuation when needed, prevention of injuries/illnesses, how to be prepared for the worst, overcoming acute stress reactions (ASR), and more. I can confidently say the one-week Wilderness First Responder course I took this past June was one of the best educational experiences I have had to date.
A summer job opportunity is what required me to get my "WFR" (pronounced "woofer") certification. I was required to travel all the way from Ohio to the small town of Buena Vista, Colorado to take a course that fit my schedule. It was a very intensive course, taking place over seven days with class lasting from 8 A.M. until 6 P.M. each day. But do not think that all you do is sit in a classroom for ten hours, seven days in a row. Students are put through scenarios designed to mimic the stress of a real-life accident or emergency in the backcountry. The facility my course was hosted on was quite literally at the base of a mountain in Colorado, making these scenarios feel all the more real. Since I slept in a yurt just steps from the classroom and phones were nearly prohibited during class hours, I became ultra-immersed in the curriculum from sunrise to sunset. At the end of the day, I would do a bit of studying and occasionally go for a run, hoping no cougars were looking for an easy meal. Speaking of studying, most WFR courses require students to do some reading and/or homework after class to reinforce what they learned that day. This can be a little annoying after a full day of class, but in hindsight, I realize it was necessary because you are taking in so much information over the course of the week. The homework ensures students fully grasp the identification and treatment of the most common medical problems occurring in the backcountry.
I am not sure how I had never heard about the opportunity to become a certified WFR, but now that I know I want to share it with others who also may not be aware. The course I took was through a company by the name of Colorado Outside. If you are thinking of getting your WFR certification I can not recommend Colorado Outside enough. Darren Stokes, or Daz as his students know him, is one of the best teachers, of any discipline, I have ever encountered. He offers a no-bullshit but also very caring way of instructing that is perfect for getting the point across to his students. His course not only gave me a great base of medical knowledge I previously did not possess; but the stressful, real-life scenarios he presented also honed my problem-solving skills. These I can apply in all aspects of life going forward. The scenarios that students are thrown into over the week are extremely helpful in developing students into skilled WFRs. When there are medical emergencies in the field, the controlled environment that a classroom offers will not be present. The foresight that Colorado Outside shows by utilizing scenarios resembling the stressful environments students will see in a real-world backcountry medical emergency makes it evident just how top-notch their program is. Towards the end of the week, these scenarios get incredibly intense. Mass-casualty events where half of the class plays victims and the other half treat these patients with the skills they have learned that week give students an extremely exhilarating test of their abilities. Yes, these injuries are all fake, but at the moment I can assure you they feel very real.
By the end of the week, students feel 10x more equipped to deal with a backcountry medical emergency than when they arrived. The intensity of the course, a high-quality curriculum, like-minded students that want to learn, and an incredible instructor are all the contributing factors I feel led to my positive experience and immense learning over the week. This course is only the start of the backcountry medicine journey for interested students. To be kept valid, a WFR certification has to be renewed every three years by taking a shorter “refresher” course. But perhaps the most important tool students come out of the course equipped with is the hunger to continue more medical and other outdoor education on their own.
So, I hope you now have a bit of an understanding of what a Wilderness First Responder course entails. I could explain further but that would leave no fun for you in taking the course, and that’s exactly what a WFR course is, fun! I think it is oh-so-important for people to continue learning throughout all of life, and, at the end of the day, this learning needs to be fun so that they want to keep learning. As an outdoorsman, I believe it is not only important but necessary to be one who is educated and ready to take on any challenge I may come across in the backcountry. I owe it to not only myself but also those I experience the outdoors with to have a basic medical understanding of injuries and illnesses that could be encountered. Gaining my Wilderness First Responder certification was an incredible way to grow as an individual as well as grow into a more responsible and respectable outdoorsman.
