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Wilderness First Aid
by Steve Zimbardi

Safety. Probably one of the most important concerns but most overlooked aspects of planning a hike, whether a day hike or multi night backpack trip. Yeah, we all probably have some sort of First Aid kit with us when we hike, but do we all really know how to use it? What the appropriate processes are for caring for the injured? Are we prepared to spend a long time in the wilderness where YOU are the care provider? Most of the time I would have to say, no. When hiking, especially in the backcountry something as simple as a sprained ankle, can cause hours/days of care before the patient gets either evacuated, or walk out on their own.

I just went through a 16 hr, 2 day course in Wilderness First Aid offered by the AMC taught by SOLO. Wow, what an awesome course, and a lot of fun! Most of us have had some sort of first aid/cpr training at some point in their lives. This takes it to the next level with learning how to assess injuries, deal with decisions that have to be made, and potentially caring for the patient for hours and potentially days before help arrives. Our instructors Leo & Dave were great. They really made learning a lot of information fun and manageable. I can now be affectionately called a "Woofa" or "WFA". As in "Injured hiker, "Woofa" on scene". For anyone who spends any amount of time miles from paved roads and easy access in the back country I highly, highly recommend taking the course.

As I mentioned, I took mine through the AMC. AMC Education Chair Dale Geslien did an absolutely fantastic job at organizing the event. CT Chapter Chair, Leo Kelly, was one of the instructors and again really made the learning fun. They were all readily accessible for any questions we had during or outside of the actual class times. If you are not an AMC member, I suggest looking into it, there is a lot of things to participate in. www.ct-amc.org

 

 

Copyright © 2006 by the authors, all rights reserved.
Compilation Copyright © 2006, Connecticut Chapter AMC