The Wilderness First Aid certification course started as a way to teach hikers how to stay safe in the woods. But, it’s turned into a course popular for people living or traveling abroad and worried about their safety.
If you find yourself in a disaster zone with two broken legs and no first aid equipment, do you know what to do to make it out alive?
That’s the exact scenario students are acting out at the MEDIC SOLO first aid camp.
“Textbook learning is one thing, it’s great to have things in your mind, but being able to hands on, actually perform tasks in the stress of the actual situation is a whole different thing,” Matt Rosefsky of MEDIC SOLO said.
At the Mountaintop Montessori School’s campus in Albemarle County, students ranging from lifelong hikers to new outdoorsmen tried splinting friends’ legs.
“Should anything go wrong, or if there are any symptoms of anything going wrong, we can make sure that hopefully we can keep it from getting worse and if something happens then we can know how to act,” student Ernie Reed said.
Laura Contrath, a student at the camp, is a teacher at a boarding school and often takes her students on wilderness trips.
“A lot of kids I take out are actually really city kids, they’re not used to going outside, they don’t necessarily like it,” Contrath said.
But the class isn’t just helpful for those going on “organized” hikes.
“You may be traveling somewhere and not near any help or you’re in a disaster zone and there’s thousands of people injured and there’s only so many ambulances to go around, how do you give care when help is not immediately available, and that’s what this class teaches,” Rosefsky said.
Rosefsky organizes classes for all ability levels across central Virginia.
Good to see some other skills being taught out there in regards to first aid. This comes from America where there has been many contentious issues in the first aid environment over the past few years. Staying safe in the woods or in Canberra is extremely important so head on down for a first aid course with Canberra first aid courses. We look forward to helping you get the best training in one of our first aid courses.