Are You already an EMS Provider or other Medical Professional?
True North stands apart from other wilderness medicine schools because our Wilderness EMT Bridge course bridges your front-country medical training with wilderness survival training so that you are equipped with the skills, gear, and knowledge to better meet the demands and realities of treating patients in remote and austere environments.
This course is approved for 40 continuing-education hours for EMT, Paramedic, and PHRN. See details below.
After all, in a wilderness emergency you likely won’t have access to all of your equipment in your Emergency Department or on your ambulance. Besides, would you even know how to quickly build an emergency shelter, start a fire, purify water to cleanse a wound or hydrate your patient, or even signal for help? Without these skills, then, the simple reality is that in wilderness environments even a medical professional becomes little more than a first responder.
During our WEMT Bridge course, you will learn the dynamics of providing medical care within a wilderness context. First, you will learn the importance of scene safety so that you can not only better protect your patient, but yourself as well. Then you will review the patient assessment protocol which is the framework of all emergency care, from the first-aider to paramedic, but with added elements of working in remote locations. From there, you will learn how to deal with traumatic injuries, like sprains, fractures, wounds, burns, and spinal cord injury management. Then you will learn to deal with illness, including heat and cold related, altitude, and allergic reactions.
Wilderness EMS training exercise.
Just as importantly, though, you will learn the same approach to wilderness survival that is taught in the U.S. military. You will learn about the Seven Priorities of any wilderness emergency — Psychology, Medical, Shelter, Fire, Signal, Water, and Food — by emphasizing basic preparedness, like tools and supplies, adaptability, and a realistic approach to improvisation. This way you’ll be able to protect your patient and yourself until rescue or relief arrives.
So how does our WEMT training different from your medical training? In some ways, you will find the training and issues very similar, but in most other ways you will find it vastly different. First, you will learn to deal with issues that you typically won’t find in your urban patient population, like snake bites, moderate to severe hypothermia, and lightening strikes. Also, in wilderness medical care there is a greater emphasis on improvisation so we will train you to better view the equipment in your pack, or what happens to be laying around, as appropriate resources. In turn, the standard of care in wilderness environments, which is outlined by the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS), may differ substantially from your state protocols. Most importantly, many medical providers only deal with patients for brief periods (maybe just the ambulance ride to the hospital) and in teams, but, as a WEMT, you may need to care for your patient for hours, or even days … all by yourself.
Our clients take this course for a wide variety of reasons. Some take it because they play or work in the outdoors, while many others also take the program because they want to take their medical training to the next level so that they can work or volunteer in search-and-rescue, disaster relief, or in healthcare missions.
Here is an overview of the program:
- Course Duration: 50 hours overall with 40 hours of instruction.
- Tuition: $650
- Maximum Group Size: 10
- Location: Outdoor Discovery Center, Ford City, Pennsylvania.
- Requirements: Current provider license & Healthcare Provider CPR certification.
- Certification Length: Two (2) years
- Description of the Level of Physical Difficulty – Moderate: This program will involve physical effort on terrain that is both relatively flat and includes some hills, over short distances at a slow pace on generally defined and established trails. Activities will involve outdoor and indoor portions. Activities will require lifting and squatting. No prior experience in the program is required.
- Continuing-Education Credits: This program is approved for professional credits by the following organizations:
- This course is approved by Pennsylvania Department of Health for forty (40) continuing-education credits (Clinical Patient Care 28 | Other 12) for EMT, Paramedic & PHRN.
- This course may also meet the requirements of recertification for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians: “The NREMT accepts continuing education that has received official approval through your State EMS office and/or the Continuing Education Coordinating Board of Emergency Medical Services.” For more information, please visit their FAQs.
- Through reciprocity agreements between the various states, your state Department of Health may also accept these credits towards your certification credit requirements. To confirm, please check with your local department.
- Description of the Level of Physical Difficulty – Moderate: This program will involve physical effort on terrain that is both relatively flat and includes some hills, over short distances at a slow pace on generally defined and established trails. Activities will involve outdoor and indoor portions. Activities will require lifting and squatting. No prior experience in the program is required.
Check out these answers to some commonly asked questions:
Where is this course located? This course is held at the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) in Ford City, Pennsylvania. It is approximately a 45 minute drive northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh.
Where can you stay overnight? The ODC offers bunk-rooms and tent camping for a small additional fee. This includes access to bathrooms, showers, a full kitchen, and relaxation space. There are also local hotels and house-shares in the area.
What kind of gear do I need to bring? True North will provide all of the needed training supplies. You will be asked to purchase a specific text for your preparatory training, which allows you to do so more conveniently and at lower cost.
Course Equipment List – Click to enlarge.
If you would like a better sense of what additional gear that you need to bring on the course, or optional gear to consider, then check out the equipment list that will be included with the course information sheet (just “click” on the image to enlarge) when you register.
However, since one of our course goals is to teach you about various gear, plus offer you a chance to “test drive” it before you buy it, if you don’t have an item, don’t necessarily feel compelled to buy it right away … especially if it’s expensive. Instead, contact us to see if we can loan you an item or make a recommendation for purchase.
If you have any questions, just contact us.