American Red Cross "Wilderness and Remote First Aid" Hellooooooo......

[lowviz]

My ARC First Aid certification lapsed so I needed to attend to this. FA is great, but Wilderness and Remote FA is better. ONCE AGAIN, you can't register for W&R FA on the ARC Website. Oh yeah, still exists and thriving, stealth course. You have to ask the home office. Reason?

Nearest course was Walkersville, MD. No prob. Spent two days with Christine, Eric, Matt, Tom, and Darwin (the instructor). Emergency Management doctoral student, camp counselor, combat diver, Ex Navy now way up in the Boy Scout ranks, and instructor with huge experience in this field. Insanely interesting group of people. This course drew people to MD from western PA, VA, and DE. -maybe need more local courses?

So a bit of background: W&R FA is first aid when professional medical help is more than an hour, more like a day or so, away. Classwork and interactive scenarios, test at the end. Typical FA addresses the ABC's -airway, breathing, circulation. W&R FA is much more thorough. ABCDE's

Anyone ever taken W&R FA? Anyone ever HEARD of it?

Purpose of this thread: @ARC : "Why are you hiding this course? Same story three years ago, W&R FA cannot be found (one hidden description exists, but can't register) on your website."

Anybody???

 

[randy88k5]

I would be interested in taking that course. I have not heard of it before. Keep me in the loop if you find it offered in this general area.

 

[dlofting]

I've taken a Wilderness First Responder course (8 days) which sounds similar. I believe the first WFR course was developed in Colorado and it's required for people like back country/mountain guides, ski patrollers, climbing guides, etc. It's probably more well known and recognized in the mountain areas of western Canada and the US.

 

[lowviz]

I would be interested in taking that course.

Sorry, man. Never thought to ask. Would have been fun to have you there, 'same flavor' as the course we took from Steve.

I have not heard of it before.

And that would be why the interest is so low! Don't get me started, talking to ARC central...

Keep me in the loop if you find it offered in this general area.

Will do.

I've taken a Wilderness First Responder course (8 days) which sounds similar. ...//...

Sort of, but that one is the "Big Boy". This one is just a 2 day first aid course with real meat to it. The next step beyond "apply direct pressure with a dressing until medical help arrives".

 

[dlofting]

Sort of, but that one is the "Big Boy". This one is just a 2 day first aid course with real meat to it. The next step beyond "apply direct pressure with a dressing until medical help arrives".

That's the big difference with any remote/wilderness first aid course......medical help is a long ways away and you can't just call 911.

I think any of these courses are great for divers.

 

[lowviz]

... I think any of these courses are great for divers.

Yes, good for many others too.

As the instructor noted, not everyone in a natural disaster may get professional medical attention in the first critical hour.

 

[Tug]

As an ARC instructor, I once looked into offering this class. I don't have my computer with me that has the course info on it, so I could be wrong about some things. This class was developed based on a curriculum developed by the Boy Scouts of America. Due to this, you'll see the course offered more often through Scouting circles than by Red Cross Chapters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DeputyDan]

I have years of work experience with many red cross local branches.

Sometimes I think that the mentality at the red cross is that if we keep our head in the sand long enough - all this technology (like the internet) will simply go away.

They are so good at some things and so behind the times at others - sort of sounds like a government agency!

 

[lowviz]

...//... They are so good at some things and so behind the times at others ...

Maybe that's it, it remains a low demand course because they haven't advertised it in the right way/place.

 

[tursiops]

But if you just want to read the materials, go to:
http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/15669/56078/56078.2.pdf
http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m29640238_WRFAGuide.pdf