Thoughts on Wilderness EMT courses? WEMT vs EMT?

[fencipede]

I took a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course through NOLS several years ago when I was working in the outdoor industry at the time. The course was outstanding and I can't recommend it enough to folks who spend time any amount of time away from immediate access to medical treatment. 80 hrs of training versus the usual 10 or less hour first aid course, but not as time or financially intensive as an EMT course.

You'll get a great blend of scenario based training along with the classroom instruction, and the instructors are outstanding as well. One of mine was 20+ year Marine Corps vet, and was definitely able to provide insight into gun shot wounds etc.

If you're returning to Texas like your profile indicated, UT Austin usually hosts a NOLS WFR course each January that's open to the public.

[ST911]

Food for thought, re: time and costs... A typical DOT EMT-B course will be ~100-120 hours, and is spread out through something approximating a semester. Most WFR and WEMT classes from major providers are between 40 and 80 hours and are done in one shot.

When we contracted for a WEMT class from WMA, it was ~$600 per student. The EMT-B classes are typically ~$200-$400 dollars, depending on vendor.

Point: The WEMT training may be fewer hours, but it may also be a harder chunk of training to bite off. It may very well be more expensive too.

Consider carefully what you have to work with for time and money, and get the most and best training you can afford.

[THellURider]

If you're returning to Texas like your profile indicated, UT Austin usually hosts a NOLS WFR course each January that's open to the public.

No kiddin? GREAT first post.

THanks for everyone's feedback. We'll have to see how much time I have. Seems like I should look at the WFR course or do a one month EMT course at the local college.

[eng208]

I certainly think there is value to it. In fact I think working in EMS is the closest you can get to the experience of a gunfight without actually getting shot at.

However be sure you have the time to invest because you're talking about exponentially more effort. Even as a volunteer doing one shift a week, you're unlikely to get the same experience you would as if it were a job, doing volunteer SAR is likely even less practical experience.

It's not all drama. Most of it is tediously boring.

Uhh, sometimes you and your partner do get shot at, and it is not uncommon to see ambulances with a few bullet holes in them.

I agree with everything he said. Been in emergency services full time as a career for 15 years.

[THellURider]

Uhh, sometimes you and your partner do get shot at, and it is not uncommon to see ambulances with a few bullet holes in them.

I agree with everything he said. Been in emergency services full time as a career for 15 years.

Ya, I really appreciate you all's feedback. I realize I'll not be at the experience or knowledge level of even a newbie paramedic and I can accept that. Like I said, this is for personal reasons and I think it would be better than the level where I am at now which is a little above zero. So even without a ton of experience, the knowledge could potentially save my life or that of someone else.

It seems like one of the primary differences between EMT and WEMT courses is the extraction techniques etc to be used in the back country. While this would also be good for me and my hunting I think it could also be overkill. Both the WEMT and EMT courses I've found take a month to complete. WEMT is a month in the backcountry; EMT is a month in a classroom in Dallas (generalisations). From a time perspective, and given my intended use for it; perhaps the WFR course would be best for me. If I want to increase my knowledge on certain aspects I'm sure I could find someone to help me out (My dad's a surgeon).

[vaspence]

Food for thought, re: time and costs... A typical DOT EMT-B course will be ~100-120 hours, and is spread out through something approximating a semester. Most WFR and WEMT classes from major providers are between 40 and 80 hours and are done in one shot.

From my experience classroom time for the WFR course was 72 hours. For the WEMT II it was another 95 classroom hours plus 10 hours in clinicals. Total time 177 hours. Of course there were additional hours spent practicing with classmates in the evening after class.

The WEMT class was pretty much the same hours except they were at SOLO for a full 4 weeks.

The courses offered at NOLS, WMA and SOLO are around 70-80 hours for WFR and 180 hours for WEMT.

Just saying

Spence

[Camerin]

Look up SOLO (stonehearth open learning opertuneties). I did my WEMT through them many years ago and it was an awesome course.

[Gutshot John]

~120-180 hours is the typical length of a full-time undergraduate semester. (4-5 classes - 1 hour each session, 3x a week for 15 weeks) so that represents a significant chunk of change in terms of time. Admittedly condensing a class that lasts about 4 (45 hour) weeks is possible, but that's still a lot of vacation time from work as well as actual time studying.

From my understanding the prime virtue for the OP in getting into EMT/EMS is the clinical experience that he will get from live patients which I agree is pretty valuable but requires even more time than the class to achieve. If there isn't going to be any patient interaction I don't see the virtue of going full EMT/WEMT for most people but if you have the time and inclination it certainly couldn't hurt.

Just reviewing the WFR course at SOLO's website makes me think it would probably be more than sufficient for most here. If you want to get a bit more intense a standard EMT-B/I course coupled with a WFR course should give you most tools you need.

[Eric Kozowski]

I've done WMA's WAFA course and am doing the WFR upgrade in December. I'll try and post an AAR here. The WAFA course was great.

[usaffarmer]

National EMT-B and state EMT-B require a 120 hour course. The class Im taking was $1200 plus books. Thats at UAA up in the unfreezing north. If you dont do anything with the certs, at least you can have the knowledge in your bag of tricks.