Wilderness Medicine
Prerequisite Information
We only accept Nationally recognized organizations who follow the same standardized curriculum set forth by the Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative (WMEC).
When enrolling in a wilderness medicine course, be sure to ask for the credential/certification for the instructor who is instructing the course. Just because the course is run through an organization, does not mean the instructor's certifications are current and valid. You can also validate your instructor's EMT or EMT-P credential yourself by going to their state issuing website or the National NR-EMT website. Some organizations are authorized providers for the below listed organizations, so please check the status of their provider level.
Approved Wilderness Medicine Providers:
- National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
- Wildereness Medical Associates International (WMA)
- National Rescue & Response Institute (NRRI-DHS)
- Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO)
- Desert Mountain Medicine
- Aerie Backcountry Medicine
- Wilderness Medicine Training Center
If an organization is not listed above, please contact us via email ahga.usa@gmail.com BEFORE enrolling in one of their courses so we can verify. As per WMEC guidelines: Wilderness First Aid courses must be 100% in-person. Wilderness First Responder courses must be a minimum of 45 hours in-person. Details on requirements can be found on the WMEC website.
Wilderness Survival & Navigation
Prerequisite Information
Wilderness survival and navigation are very popular at this current time. There are a lot of organziations and providers offering training of varying levels for these disciplines. We have listed a few below, but use your best judgement when choosing an in-person provider. You can also acquire these skills on your own. A survival course, or your personal training, should focus on all four elements of survival in the event you are stuck out in the wilderness with your clients overnight without your gear/equipment. A navigation course should covers all of the essentials topics for using a map and compass in a wilderness, or any, environment. Map and compass skills are a neccessity for anyone venturing into the wilderness.
The four elements of survival are:
- Fire: This is an important element as most of the time, it can be the most difficult if the right tools and materials are not readily available.
- Shelter: This can be done while others are focusing on fire. This is the most time and energy consuming tasks in a survival situation.
- Water: Learning how to procure, filter and purify water with modern tools is a skills that takes practice.
- Food
Recommended Providers:
- Self Reliance Outfitters (Pathfinder School)
- Northeast Mountain Guiding
- Trailbound Project
- Texas Survival School
- Tom Brown's Tracker School
Quality Mountain Day
A quality mountain day is defined as the conditions experienced both overhead and underfoot, the exploration of new areas, the terrain covered and the physical and mental challenge. To log a quality mountain day, you must notate the weather conditions/patterns, size of group, terrain type, location, date, guided or un-guided and by whom.
What we require for a "quality mountain day" is one of the following:
- 4 miles or more into the backcountry on varying terrain with a group of people (2 or more) with varying terrain conditions.
- A technical day of rock climbing, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, rappelling, mountaineering, ice climbing or any similar, mountain/wilderness-based activity. A technical day can either be in the frontcountry or backcountry.
Frontcountry is defined as being less than 4 miles into the wilderness on non-technical terrain. A local park with short hiking trails would be a good example of a frontcountry environment.
Backcountry is definied as being 4 or more miles into the wilderness on any type of terrain.
A quality winter mountain day meets the above requirements, but additionally is in a winter environment. This could be on permanent or non-permanent snow-covered terrain.
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