Hybrid WEMR/WEMT Course - Sample Syllabus
26 Total Hours
Our Wilderness EMR & EMT course is designed for urban EMRs or EMTs who wish to adapt their skills to a remote care environment as Search & Rescue team members, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, rural or remote EMS, expedition medics, or trip leaders. This course focuses on assessing and treating traumatic, environmental, and medical emergencies in a wilderness expedition or remote EMS environment.
Schedule & Topics
Online Modules
30 hours*
General
- Course Introduction
- Medical/Legal Concepts
- General Concepts in Patient Care
- Body Defenses
- Basic Pharmacology
- Autonomic Stress Response
- Patient Assessment System
Trauma
- Assessing Traumatic Problems
- Increased ICP & Concussion
- Bleeding & Volume Shock
- Respiratory Distress & Arrest
- Stable & Unstable Extremity Injuries
- Spine & Cord Injuries
- Dislocations
- Wounds
- Focused Spine Assessment
Environmental
- Assessing Environmental Problems
- Dehydration
- Heat Exhaustion, Heat Stroke, & Hyponatremia
- Exertional Rhabdomyolysis
- Sun Exposure
- Hypothermia
- Drowning
- Allergies
- Wilderness Toxins and Venomous Bites & Stings
- Anaphylaxis
- Lightning Injuries
Medical
- Assessing Medical Problems
- Circulatory System Problems
- Respiratory System Problems
- Gastrointestinal System Problems
- Genitourinary System Problems
- Diabetes
- Asthma
- Seizures
- Ear Problems
- Eye Problems
- Nose Problems
- Tooth & Gum Problems
- Infectious Diseases
- Mental Health Emergencies
* The amount of time required to complete the online modules varies between individuals
Practical Session
50 hours
Day 1
- Practical Session Introduction
- Basic Life Support Skills Lab & Simulations
- Patient Assessment & Evaluation
- SOAP Documentation
- Traumatic Video Simulation
- Focused Spine Assessment Lab
- Traumatic Video Simulation
- Case Study Homework
Evening Session
- Adult & Child CPR & AED Skills Lab
Day 2
- Case Study Homework Review
- Basic Extremity Splinting Lab
- Wound Cleaning Lab
- Traumatic Video Simulations
- Case Study Homework
Evening Session:
- Injection Lab
- Allergies & Wilderness Bites & Stings Worksheet
Day 3
- Case Study Homework Review
- Advanced Extremity Splinting Lab
- Improvised Pelvic Binder
- Dislocations Lab
- Traumatic Video Simulations
- Case Study Homework
Day 4
- Case Study Homework Review
- Spine Management Lab
- Assessing Medical Problems
- Medical Simulations
- Mental Health Assessment
- Case Study Homework
± Evening Session
- Review
Day 5
- Case Study Homework Review
- Hypothermia Packaging Lab
- Improvised Litters & Carries Lab
- Mass Casualty Video Simulation
- Course Debrief, Closing & Clean-up
Hybrid WEMS Basic Life Support Course Lab Descriptions
- Basic Life Support Lab: Addresses all elements of the Scene size-up and Initial Patient Exam.
- Adult & Child CPR and AED Certification Review & Skills Lab: Adult & Child CPR, AED, and Obstructed Airway skills are refined using mannikins.
- Wound Cleaning Lab: Pig feet are used for training realistic wound cleaning, removal of impaled objects [including fish hooks].
- Basic & Advanced Extremity Splinting Labs: Padded aluminum splints and expedition supplies are used to improvise effective extremity splints using the buddy, cast, jelly roll, sandwich splint concepts. Bring a cut T-shirt roll and a pair of heavy hiking socks; the socks will not be cut.
- Injection Lab: Students learn how to deliver intramuscular and subcutaneous injections using a pre-filled syringe [containing normal saline] and autoinjector trainers.
- Improvised Pelvic Binder Lab: Common expedition equipment is used to improvise an effective pelvic binder.
- Focused Spine Assessment Lab: How to assess and rule out possible spine injuries in a wilderness context.
- Spine Management Lab: Lifting, moving, and packaging potentially spine-injured patients lying on their back and side in a commercial or improvised litter and improvised stretcher. Includes pressure infusion bag for rapid infusion of IV fluids for dehydration or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)
- Improvised Rope Litter Lab: A daisy chain rope litter is demonstrated and practiced.
- Dislocations Lab: Relocation techniques for indirect anterior shoulder, lateral patella, and digits are demonstrated and practiced. Jaw reduction and passive anterior shoulder reduction techniques are demonstrated.
- Improvised Hypothermia Packaging Lab: Sleeping bags, pads, tarps or plastic sheeting, and water bags/bottles are used to improvise a hypothermia package.
- Simulations: Role plays incorporating patient assessment & documentation. Make-up is used to increase the reality of traumatic simulations and cuttable simulation clothing is required.
