“Thought you might enjoy some pix of the Backcountry Medicine Rodeo: when it’s too hot to sit in the sun, relax in the water! Students in Bahamas holding their backcountry medicine topic cards and their responders using the Field Guide to assess.”
-Jeff Baierlein, WEMT
As General Manager of WMA, I carefully read over all of the student evaluations of our courses. I ran across one today from a Wilderness First Responder course that I found particularly noteworthy and amusing. In answer to the question, ‘Where did you first hear about Wilderness Medical Associates?’, the WFR student replied,
“I’ve worked as an outdoor professional. Hell if I know – it’s WMA. Where did you first hear of McDonald’s?â€
Anne Rugg
WMA General Manager
How did YOU hear about WMA?
“First, I want to tell you I learned more than I could ever imagine, I had a great time, and our instructor Brad Sablosky was incredible. The main reason I wanted to email you though was because of your course content. As a professor of athletic training I need to make sure I am teaching my students “evidence based medicine” as often as possible.
It is a common part of my life to come across medicine that has not caught up to the science because individuals don’t do the research and want to hold onto old adages. I have to admit I was expecting to run into this in a few content areas going into your WFR course. I was so impressed and over-joyed to find that was not the case at all. Your course content was definitely grounded in “evidence based medicine” as best as possible. I especially noticed this in wound care and exertional heat illnesses. I have been conducting heat and hydration research for over
6 years now. I’ve given many “H&H” talks over these years and find people who are taught wrong information. Your information on this topic was phenomenal! The course content provided the best and most accurate information on this topic I have ever come across. I greatly appreciate this and wanted to let you know. Along those lines, I have attached two publication and a slide for you to peruse that support the use of cold water immersion for heat stroke and the use of rectal temperature in the assessment of exertional heat illness. Let me know if you have any questions.
Additionally, I wanted to express my gratitude that the instructors gave my profession of athletic training trust and respect that I greatly appreciated. They knew what my skills were and what my profession is capable of. They were able to push me “out of my comfort box” during the WFR course to be a better practitioner as well as help me with my weak points. I hope you organization continues this excellent tradition and looks into furthering a relationship with our profession (recognition and CEU’s).
Once again, I had a wonderful time during my WFR course and learned a significant amount of information. Thank you for working so hard on the course content.”
To check out Wildmed.com to learn how to take a course from “The world leader in wilderness and rescue medicine,” Wilderness Medical Associates!
What was the best piece of information YOU learned in your course?
There will be a Wilderness Medical Race held at Grafton Lakes State Park near Albany, NY, on 9/27/2008.
Click here for more information!
Scheduler here again-
International courses are great and exciting, but for those of us “grounded” by rising airfare costs and things like jobs and school, here are two new domestic sponsors to shift the focus to WMA courses in the grand ol’ U.S. of A.
The first of those sponsors is Yellow Breeches Educational Center in Carlisle, PA. Yellow Breeches is a private school for grades 6-12, and they are known for their excellent 5:1 student to teacher ratio and the variety of activities they make available to their students. Heidi Whitmer, a school employee with a Wilderness First Responder certification from WMA, contacted me in late June to explore options for putting on a Wilderness First Aid class at the school. This is an excellent example of WMA course graduates recognizing that the training provided in our courses is valuable to many different people and in a variety of situations. They often approach the organizations, companies, schools, and camps with which they are connected and bring WMA there to teach a class to their students and/or coworkers! Their class in August is closed to the public, but we are happy to teach Wilderness First Aid to their 27+ students!
Geyser Whitewater, in Big Sky, MT, is another new sponsor deserving of the spotlight. Building on the success of the Wilderness First Aid class they put on in May, they are offering a Wilderness First Responder in October. Situated in an area that is as ripe with outdoor adventurers as it is remote, this part of Montana will be an idyllic spot for students to spend 8 days learning about wilderness and rescue medicine, and the same number of nights sleeping under the stars. Wow- quite a salesman I am… The WFR course at Geyser Whitewater is October 19 – 26, and there are plenty of other lodging options available. Visit our online schedule or www.raftmontana.com for more information.
We are happy to offer courses in new locations and for different pockets of people, and we certainly appreciate these two, and all other new sponsors for this reason! If you’d like information on sponsoring a course, please contact me at 207-797-6005 or send an email to sean@wildmed.com.
Cheers,
Sean Hoskins
Scheduling Coordinator
Wilderness Medical Associates
www.wildmed.com
207-797-6005
It seems as though there has been an increased “international flair†on the scheduling side of things recently. I guess this makes sense, with the world becoming more globalized- internet, etc.- though you should still buy your produce locally… Seriously, it is exciting to be able to go home at the end of the day and say, “Yeah- I set up courses in Belgium, Japan, and Taiwan today.†One of the most interesting things to know about Wilderness Medical Associates is that all of our courses, WFR’s, WEMT’s, WALS’s etc. held around the country and around the world, are supported by one compact, yet very efficient office in Maine!
Two new international sponsors with whom I’ve worked to set up courses in the past month are The Outsider Club VZW in Belgium, and Crux Professional Limited in Hong Kong. Both new sponsors found WMA through word-of-mouth recommendations from other groups who sponsor our courses.
The Outsider Club is an organization centered around making outdoor experiences and training available to people 6-30 years old. They provide leadership camps, natural, volunteer and group teambuilding opportunities, and emergency training in several locations around Belgium. I was happy when they contacted me to set up a WFA class in December, at the tail end of the WMA courses (open recert and WAFA) already set up by Outward Bound Belgium. It made it an even more enticing “package†to offer the instructors: to be able to teach 3 courses for 2 sponsors in Europe! The WFA course they scheduled is in Oudenaarde December 16-17. Visit www.theoutsiderclub.be for more information on this interesting international organization with which we’re now proud to be connected.
Crux is a similar organization. They provide expeditions around the world, and their program offerings center around corporate and personal adventure-based training, professional wilderness education, and “leave no trace†programming. More information on this dynamic company can be found at http://www.crux.com.hk/Main_page.html , and their WFR is scheduled for September 14 – 21.
That’s a good place to end my update from the Scheduling Desk. As always, the online schedule is an up-to-date list of the courses we’re consistently adding, but I’ll write again soon for more highlights.
Sean Hoskins
Scheduling Coordinator
Wilderness Medical Associates
www.wildmed.com
207-797-6005
