Wilderness First Responder (WFR)

What is the Wilderness First Responder Course?

The WFR (pronounced “woofer”) is an 80-hour course focusing on patient assessment and treatment for medical problems, environmental emergencies, and traumatic injuries in austere environments.

Wilderness First Responders care for patients in remote locations, under challenging weather conditions, and using limited or improvised equipment.  When 911 response is measured in hours or days, this is the training you want to have.  Due to difficulty or absence of communication with outside providers or rescue personnel in these environments, a WFR graduate may need to make independent decisions about the course of treatment as well as the need for and urgency of evacuation.  Accordingly, the curriculum in a Wilderness First Responder course includes wide-ranging and deep knowledge about various emergencies as well as skills that differ from and in many cases exceed the scope of first responders in an urban or front-country environment.

Certifications Earned in the Wilderness First Responder Course

Upon successful completion of the course, students will earn:

• Wilderness First Responder certification valid for two years
• Basic Life Support (BLS) CPR & AED certification though HSI valid for two years
• CPR Seattle Epinephrine Autoinjector & Anaphylaxis Training Certificate (WA State Approved)

Prerequisites for Wilderness First Responder Training

There is no prerequisite certification required to take a Wilderness First Responder course.  Previous medical training, such as Wilderness First Aid or a CPR class, is helpful but not required. The following items must be completed before the first day of WFR training:

• You will be expected to study the course materials.  Plan to devote 10 hours reading and studying the course textbook: Wilderness First Responder by Buck Tilton. 
• Students must complete the HSI BLS/CPR Blended Learning online program. A link will be sent upon enrollment. Budget about 2.5 hours time for this.

You need to be able to stand, sit, and kneel to become certified as a Wilderness First Responder. Instructors will make reasonable accommodations for students whenever possible. Full attendance is required for certification.

Feel free to reach out to our office with any specific questions before the course.

Wilderness First Responder Course Format

Hands-On Learning! At Backcountry Medical Training, we believe in the efficacy of hands-on, in-person learning.  Our Wilderness First Responder courses meet the Wilderness Medicine Education (WMEC) guidelines for 70 hours of in-person class time. We require an additional 10 hours of study time before class. 

Public or Private Courses: You may enroll in a public course, or we can customize this schedule to meet the needs of your group, company, or organization in a private WFR course that focuses on the skills and knowledge most vital for you.    

Course Format Details: During the course, your instructors will introduce a topic and its objective, deliver a brief lecture, and then guide you through skills practice for that topic. Throughout the class, you’ll master those skills in multiple hands-on scenarios with instructors providing direct feedback at every step of the way.  Scenarios vary in length and complexity, from simple one-on-one assessment scenarios to multiple casualty incident simulations requiring triage and evacuation.  We go outside under all weather conditions so you can learn the real challenges of wilderness medicine and how to manage them.

Professional Touch During Patient Assessment: During practice sessions and scenarios, you will be able to select the other students in the class you are comfortable working with. In wilderness and austere medicine, resources are often scarce and you won’t have access to the diagnostic tools available in an emergency room (X-rays, CT scans, MRI, etc).  As a wilderness medicine provider, you’ll use your eyes, ears, and hands to detect and correct problems.  Students must be comfortable performing a physical assessment on each other.  Professional physical touch is a diagnostic necessity.

Wilderness First Responder Curriculum Details

Backcountry Medicine differs from Urban EMS: Wilderness medicine is different from urban EMS. In the backcountry, help may be hours—or even days—away, and you will be caring for patients with limited gear and no hospital nearby. That is why it is often called austere medicine. Unlike urban settings where responders arrive with extensive equipment, in the wilderness, you may have only a small first aid kit and need to improvise. You will also learn how to safely lift and move patients—something usually left to professionals in the front country. Plus, you will gain skills to manage environmental hazards like extreme heat or cold, lightning, avalanches, rockfall, and bites or stings from wildlife.

WFR Scope of Practice:

To prevent and identify traumatic injuries, environmental illnesses and injuries, medical problems, initiate reasonable and prudent field management, and identify signs and symptoms necessitating evacuation for potentially life-threatening problems.

To accomplish the WFR Scope of Practice, our Wilderness First Responder students learn:

• In-depth patient assessment skills, including taking vitals like blood pressure and respiratory rate.
• Reporting tools like SOAP notes and verbal short reports.
• How to find and manage life-threatening conditions like airway and breathing problems and severe bleeding.
• How to identify and treat musculoskeletal injuries.
• Caring for wounds.
• Addressing gastrointestinal problems.
• Treating and preventing environmental emergencies.
• Tools and techniques for wilderness evacuation, interfacing with search and rescue (SAR) and emergency medical services (EMS) and preparing for helicopter operations.

Underpinning the entire curriculum is a focus on practice, with enough repetition to gain mastery of fundamental wilderness medicine skills.

What to Wear and Bring to a Wilderness First Responder Course?

Start with an open mind and a willingness to learn. As an intense and professional-level certification, a Wilderness First Responder course can be challenging.

We spend as much time outside as possible—rain or shine—so come prepared for all types of weather. Dress in layers to comfortably transition between the indoor classroom and outdoor scenarios. You will be sitting, kneeling, and lying on the ground during hands-on activities.

To enhance realism, we use makeup (moulage) to simulate injuries in practice scenarios. Moulage improves the quality of training, so please wear clothing that you do mind getting dirty or stained.

We provide all the basic tools necessary to learn and practice WFR skills, but we recommend you bring the following:

• A backpack and any personal gear you commonly use while working or recreating outdoors (these will be utilized during training scenarios).
• Comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing you do not mind getting dirty or stained (we use makeup called moulage to simulate injuries).
• Layers to stay comfortable while transitioning between indoor and outdoor settings.
• Notebook and pen/pencil for taking notes.
• A laptop, tablet, or smartphone for accessing materials and enhancing your learning.
• You will be sitting, kneeling, and lying on the ground throughout the course, so be sure to dress accordingly.
• You’re also welcome to bring your personal first aid kit if you would like feedback or suggestions—we are happy to help you refine it for your specific needs.

Wilderness First Responder Skill Evaluations

Backcountry Medical Training courses follow the WMEC standards for certification courses and feature hands-on instruction and in-person real-time validation of skills.  As a professional certification, we hold a high standard for Wilderness First Responder students.  To obtain certification, all students will be evaluated (with direct feedback) throughout the course and must obtain a passing score on written and practical examinations.

How to Recertify your BMT WFR Certification

When it comes time to recertify your Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification, you can be confident that an initial Backcountry Medical Training WFR course meets—and exceeds—industry standards. As a result, you will have no difficulty recertifying with us or with another recognized agency.

For example, NOLS Wilderness Medicine “welcomes eligible graduates from other providers” who “possess a current (unexpired) WFR certification from a provider whose programming meets or exceeds the guidelines established by the Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative (WMEC).” NOLS recognizes WFR courses that include a minimum of 70 total instructional hours, with at least 45 hours of in-person instruction, and does not accept certifications earned entirely online.

Completing your WFR certification through an in-person Backcountry Medical Training course ensures that your credential will be recognized and transferable should you need to maintain or renew it elsewhere.

If you need to recertify a current or recently expired WFR, we can help. You do not need to repeat a full WFR course to renew your certification. Backcountry Medical Training accepts WFR renewals from other course providers, provided your certification is no more than one year expired and was earned through a program that meets or exceeds current WMEC standards, including at least 70 total instructional hours and 45 hours of in-person instruction. Courses that do not meet these standards are not eligible for recertification.

For more information, please visit our Wilderness First Responder Renewal page.

Accreditation

Backcountry Medical Training follows the certification standards set forth by the Wilderness Medicine Educational Collaborative, the only professional organization currently setting standards for the Wilderness First Aid course and Wilderness Medicine courses.