Wilderness First Responder: A First-Hand Account

Tarsh Williams is Manager, Outdoors at Wildcraft. An HR professional who chose to follow his heart into the hills, he runs Wildcraft’s adventure-based training programs. Here he speaks of the Wilderness First Responder Program he underwent that equips you with skills necessary to administer first aid and treatment when conventional care may not be at hand.

One of the best places in the world to learn about the outdoors and wilderness adventure is the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in Wyoming, USA. I’ve been among the fortunate few from India who has got a chance to go through a 120 day semester that covers everything from winter camping to wilderness medicine.

The Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course is one of the memorable programs I went through. 30 participants and 80 hours didn’t sound particularly out of the ordinary until it actually began and I realized that it was rigorous to a point of being extreme! We put up in a ranch in Wyoming, one of America’s most scenic states, but what we were about to go through was anything but scenic!

I remember one exercise where 3 members or our class were chosen to be volunteers who would subject themselves to extreme cold water to bring on hypothermia and it was our responsibility that we took action required.