I need training! Can someone point me in the right direction?

[Travis B]

The Red Cross offers basic first aid classes. The community college should offer first aid classes also. Remote Solutions is locate in NC and they offer EMT-Basic which is a good starter course. http://www.remotesolutionsllc.com/

I'm taking EMT Basic at Forsyth Tech in Winston Salem, NC this summer. It's only $180 (and it transfers to my Wake Forest credits, thus saving me about $2,200!)

[John W]

I attended the local CERT class. Your local county or city should offer a program that teaches basic first aid, firefighting, search and rescue, etc. and at a very low cost, namely time. Here is a brief over view - http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/

After CERT I found I wanted more information on first aid and additional training. The internet is a great resource but there is a huge need to learn by doing. I attended a BLS CPR course (4 hours, 60 dollars) through the American Heart Association. This built on skills I thought I already had, and gave me an opportunity to practice my hands on application of CPR. Great course, well worth the money and time.


Next up I signed up for a EMT program at the community college and went 30% of the way through it. TONS of paperwork. Too much for my blood. They like to teach/lecture you on a whole ton of skills that you can't apply. With this in mind, I spoke with our CERT coordinator and did a bit of research here on M4c. The consensus was to look into REI first aid course taught by NOLS / WMI.

NOLS / WMI offer a basic 2-day (Sat & Sun) first aid course through REI. The price is around 250 dollars and teaches you arts and crafts (basic bandages) and cpr. A bit of additional research on the NOLS/WMI website landed me in a 10-day "Wilderness First Responder" program. The cost was $650 and was exactly what I was looking for. Class goes from 9-5 and has a few night scenarios that run from 6-10 later on in the course. For every hour in the class room we spent an hour in the field applying those skills and building on them. This class is a goldmine of information and practice experience. We had to diagnose and treat with what we had, or a few basic tools that we might have on a typical "outdoor adventure". This program was well worth the time and money, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

The class reinforces the concept of the most important "gear" we have with us is our knowledge. Best of all, the course showed me how basic my "off the shelf" first aid kit is, and how little I knew how to use in that "basic" first aid kit. Now I have reworked my kit using new tools and bandages that I learned about and found a need for in class. Better yet, I know how and when I need to use each item.

A side note, the Wilderness First Responder Course and the local community college/emt First Responder course are two completely different programs. The WFR program teaches you how to deal with injuries when help is at least one hour or more away. Many of the treatments may not be legal in certain jurisdictions if you were in a urban environment. However, the WFR course is designed to keep people alive in extreme situations where help may not be only minutes away.


Feel free to PM me or post here with any questions.

[SteveL]

Your local fire department may offer first aid and/or first responder classes to the public that you can take.

[Heartland Hawk]

Is the WFR course through REI offered in multiple geographic areas?

[NC_DAVE]

Hello all, I am completely green to medical help and I am looking to start learning the basics and then move on to more advanced classes as I progress. My question is, I am in North Carolina and I am looking for a basic medical class, where should I look? Anyone have any experience with a training center in NC? What class should I be looking into? Emt-b, Emt-p? I am sorry if these are dumb questions.

Where in nc and how far can travel? I know Cape Fear Community College has great EMT classes, and has a better RN nusre program than the local Univsety from what I am told. I have also heard that there are class near Shallotte Nc in Brunswick Co.
Hope this helps