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. Each of us was observed as we put them in a wrap, maintained their body temperature and monitored vital signs among other things. It was a great learning experience on how to keep your wits about you and not take rash decisions in the grip of panic.

As you can see, sessions were divided into theory and practical: every concept from femur fracture to snake-bite to CPR was covered from a hands-on point of view as well so that we’d never be caught off-guard in the wild. Sometimes, we learned, it is essential to take that crucial decision about whether to abort the expedition or carry on and the WFR equips you with tools to aid that decision.

I came away from the WFR feeling confident that I would be able to take on a situation that demanded medical action in the wilderness. So far, fortunately, I haven’t had to need to take action on a serious incident: but that is also because the WFR ensures that protocols of preparation for an outdoor activity keep safety paramount!

The Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) administered WFR will be held in Bangalore from Aug 15-24, 2009. Part of the renowned NOLS curricula, WFR has trained over 75,000 students in the art and science of administering medical care in the wild.