Three students on a lakeside participating in a WFA scenario

Wilderness Medicine Courses

Wilderness First Aid and First Responder for all experience levels

WFA and WFR Classes

In-Person and Remote Online

A group of three people providing wilderness first aid to a person lying on a blue mat in a snowy forest.
Two men in a forest, one wearing an orange "Search and Rescue" jacket, assisting the other who is sitting on a rock with a leg injury as a WFR course.
Screenshot of a video conference with multiple participants shown in a grid layout, each in separate video frames. Some participants are engaging in discussions or activities as part of a remote learning session.

Base Medical offers in-person and remote Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder certifications and recerts. Our courses are designed for real world application - led by a team of instructors with extensive practical field experience.

We’ve created a curriculum that meets and exceeds the Wilderness Medical Society’s recommendations for WFR and WFA courses and incorporates practical applications of medical and rescue concepts.

Our mission is to create high quality, practical outdoor safety training that is accessible, affordable, and engaging! Topics covered in our Wilderness Medicine classes includes:

  • Full patient assessment

  • Basic life support

  • Scene safety

  • Decision making and evacuation

  • Shock management

  • Spine safety, including lifts and moves

  • Environmental illness and injuries

  • Head trauma

  • Chest trauma

  • Orthopedic injuries and splinting

  • Altered mentation

  • Trauma assessment

  • Medical assessment

  • Allergies and anaphylaxis

  • Triage and MCIs

  • Bleed control and wound care

  • Much more

Three people in a forest setting, two kneeling and one sitting on a mat, engaged in an outdoor activity. The person in the middle appears to be receiving assistance from the others, with one person wearing blue medical gloves. Surrounding them are green trees and forest undergrowth.
A first aid scenario with two people attending to someone lying on the ground. One person is using a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, while the other appears to be checking the individual’s condition. They are outdoors on grass.
Group of people outdoors performing first aid on a person lying on the ground in winter clothing, with snow on the ground.

Education Centers and Custom Courses

Three people assisting a person lying on the grass during a WFR scenario outdoors.
A first aid training scenario in a forest, featuring two people engaged in an exercise. A white sign reads "First Aid Scenario in Progress. This is a training activity. Please do not contact emergency services." The surroundings include trees, foliage, and backpacks.

Wilderness Medicine Training FAQ

  • 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.

What Our Students Say

  • "This course was so worth it. I feel much better about leading kids into the wilderness having just done the online course."

    Casey I.

  • “I really appreciate the ability to obtain recertification of my WFA online, since to do so in-person was not possible. I felt the course outline and instruction presentation was well done, very methodical, comprehensive, and relevant to the realities of outdoor recreation. Thanks again! “

    -Sheeba N.

  • "This course gave me much more detail than previous WFA trainings. I appreciated the video accompaniments to the text, as hearing the material reinforced what was written. I do wish temperatures and measurements were given in non-metric terms, or both metric and non-metric terms. The supplemental materials were helpful."

    -Sandra R.