WILDERNESS FIRST RESPONDER

Base Medical WFA and WFR courses are designed to be practical and applicable to real world use. Our instructors focus on decision making and providing tools are relevant to the experience of our students.

Our courses get students thinking about the ongoing situation and next phase of care through robust online content and thoughtfully considered scenarios.

Base Medical is a leader in remote online wilderness Medicine courses and learning. We’re also proud to be blazing the path in SAR specific WFA and WFR education.

Base Medical courses are appropriate for students of all experience levels

WFA courses are most intended for non-professional rescuers such as volunteer group leaders or adventurers who like to get outdoors for fun. These courses focus on what to do in the immediate aftermath of an injury or illness and how to stabilize a patient until higher trained rescue arrives.

WFR classes are great for outdoor professionals such as guides, expedition leaders, SAR volunteers and pros, and other folks who are tasked with caring for other people in the outdoors. These classes also focus on the immediate response to an emergency, but dive a bit deeper into long term patient care, risk management, and decision making.

We also offer WFA courses specifically designed for SAR providers. These classes are taught by instructors with extensive SAR experience and apply real world application and extra time on evacuation and ongoing assessment.

Students in a remote course complete online, self-paced course work in advance of their practical. The practical part of the course is held on zoom with a Base Medical instructor. WFA courses are one full day and WFR Recert Courses are two full days.

The practical day is a combination of content review, skills practice, and scenarios using a volunteer subject. The session is interactive, hands-on, and includes lots of opportunities to put skills to the test.

Students are encouraged to have items from the remote supply list handy to use. However, if you have concerns about securing these items in advance or if cost a barrier, our instructors can suggest alternatives for use.

Volunteer patients are needed for two 2-hour stretches on day one (WFA). Students enrolled in the WFR Recert will also need a volunteer for the end of day two. Volunteers can be family, friends, partners, or coworkers. Alternatively, students in close proximity to one another can pair up and work as one another’s volunteers. Students who enroll together and take this option are eligible for a discount.

Volunteers do not need any previous medical training. They just need to be an adult who can follow instructions and commit to making scenarios as realistic as possible.

Our remote instructors are highly trained individuals - EMTs, first responders, paramedics, and above. They have developed online-specific teaching tools and methods to engage students in a remote learning format. Learn more about our team here.