Wilderness First Responder Certification - June 2025

This 3-day on-site course is located at our Taos, NM campus. Students must either be renewing an existing WFR certification or successfully complete the following prerequisite courses to attend:

The Standard Wilderness First Aid Certification

The Advanced Wilderness First Aid Certification

Our Wilderness First Responder (WFR) is a hybrid program demonstrating a minimum of 72 hours of Wilderness First Aid (WFA) and WFR training. Students will receive certification for each level completed on the way to the final WFR certification.

The first 48 hours of the WFR are the WFA and Advanced WFA courses. These are prerequisites for the final on-site, 3-day portion which awards a WFR certification.

During the 3-day, onsite WFR, a large part of the training is performed in a scenario-based environment with an emphasis on hands-on learning and testing as we move through subjects. CPR/AED certification is also completed during the WFR on-site.

For those students working through the Austere Medicine Program and Herbal and Off-grid Medicine Experience (HOME), the WFR on-site is also embedded as 3 days within the 13-day on-site HOME course.

Additionally, for those students wishing to integrate field herbalism into their curriculum, the Herbal First Aid curriculum is now taught as a separate course.

The full WFR program (from WFA through WFR) includes the following curriculum:

• Legal definitions, good samaritan laws and scope of practice
• 1, 2 and 3 person carries and stretcher carries, improvisational litters
• CPR/AED certification
• Introduction to knots and lashings
• Managing Head Injuries
• Primary Survey
• Secondary Survey (physical exam, vital signs, SAMPLE history)
• Ankle and Knee assessment and taping
• Shock assessment and treatment
• The acute abdomen
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Shoulders to Ribs
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Occlusive Dressings and their uses
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Compression Bandages
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Field Expedient Tourniquets
• Field Management of Pelvic Injuries
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Buddy Splinting
• Bandaging/Taping Techniques: Traction Splints
• Wound Closure methods
• Open vs. Closed Fractures
• Wound and Infection Management
• Primary and Secondary Survey Practical Exercises
• The Austere Team: Provider roles in the field. Food allergies.
• Environmental Injuries and Hazards: Heat, Cold, Altitude, Lightning strikes, Drowning and Immersion
• Venom and venomous bites
• Toxins and poisons
• Spine management in the field (to include clearing the spine)
• Medical emergencies in the field
• Building first aid kits
• Charcoal and aspirin
• Medic*tion administration assistance
• Radio and Communications
• Group Scenarios: post disaster response
• Low light triage scenarios
• Establishing of an Incident Command Center

COURSE INFORMATION

Dates: June 5th - 7th, 2025, 9am - 5pm. Registration for the course will close on June 3rd at 5pm CST.

Location: This course will be located at our Taos, New Mexico campus. Detailed driving directions will be emailed to registered students prior to the course.

Lodging: Limited (first come first serve) camping is available to registered students for free during the course, and the night before the course begins. There are also options for hotels, Air-Bnb's, tent camping, and RV camping in the area.

Registration is limited to 10 students and is first come first serve.

TUITION INFORMATION

Early Bird Tuition: $275 until April 15th, 2025. (processing fees apply.)

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Regular Tuition: $325 (processing fees apply)

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Students can purchase all three certification courses for the full WFR Certification at a discount rate. Email us for help with registration for this bundle!

The Standard Wilderness First Aid Certification

The Advanced Wilderness First Aid Certification

* Add on the Herbal First Aid module to the WFA Certification:

Herbal First Aid Certification

Host or Publisher Herbal Medics Academy