Wilderness First Aid

Wilderness First Aid

16 hour training that covers environmental, medical, and traumatic injuries with a focus on inclusive care and rescue, patient, and bystander mental health.

Register now: 

Register through the calendar. We offer different formats every month. Classes are typically held at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, CO. Seasonally we visit Fort Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Glenwood Springs, or the Western Slope. 

Course Overview: 

The WFA course teaches students the skills to anticipate risks and hazards, identify medical, traumatic, environmental problems, recognize life-threatening issues, initiate basic care and deliver a cohesive report. The curriculum forces students to think creatively, adapt to ever changing situations, and learn valuable leadership, decision making, and communication skills. 

The course will focus on:  

  • Rescuer, patient and bystander mental health
  • Inclusive and compassionate patient care
  • Prevention of potential problems
  • Performing a basic physical exam, identifying abnormalities and life-threatening problems, obtaining vital signs, patient history, and writing and verbalizing a report for a walk-out evacuation or hand-off
  • Treatment and stabilization of emergencies, improvising splints, bleeding and wound control, management of heat and cold illnesses, hydration problems, drownings, lighting injuries, spinal cord protection, basic patient lifts and transfers
  • Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and special considerations for the wilderness, Epinephrine administration, and first aid kit planning for specific activities and needs

Please note, while CPR techniques are discussed in the WFA course, students will not earn a CPR certification. The CMC offers a separate CPR/AED course that is held at the American Mountaineering Center in the evening for 2 and 1/2 hours for $40. 

Format: 

Following standards set by the Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative, the CMC can no longer offer hybrid training. All WFA certifications must contain 16 hours of in-person training.

WFA Pricing: 

*Non-members consider the benefits of JOINING THE CMC: individual-$85/year, family-$125/year, under 30-$50/year. Use the savings from the member discount towards the cost of your membership and take advantage of more CMC trips and classes. 

 

Wilderness Medicine Textbook: 

The book used in your WFA is the "Wilderness Medicine Field Guide" and can be found in the Course Materials tab of your registration page.  

 WHAT TO BRING: 

  • Personal outdoor gear
  • Layers to account for a variety of weather conditions
  • Water/snacks
  • Camp chair
  • Notebook and pen
  • Lunch: We will break for an hour for lunch. You have the option of bringing lunch with you or purchasing food in town.
 We will provide student materials and medical kits for teaching. 

Certification: 

  • Wilderness First Aid (A CPR certification is not included) 

Recertification: 

  • All certifications listed above are valid for two years with no grace period. 
  • Wilderness First Aid can be kept current by taking a 16 hour WFA class within the two year period. 

Leadership Scholarship: 

  • Volunteers with the Colorado Mountain Club who are trip leaders, school directors/instructors, or those in training may qualify for free tuition to wilderness medicine classes through the Leadership Scholarship. Please visit the Roder Leadership Scholarship page under Leader Resources to learn more and apply.

Contact: 

For questions, contact wildernessmedicine@cmc.org

*Important note about emails: The email address you use when registering will be the email used for all course related resources. You will receive a reminder about your class, access to Google classroom (for hybrid), and your final exam link. Sometimes these emails are sent to your junk/spam folder, please check there before reaching out to our staff.