What is Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid?

Whether you’re a scout, an outdoor enthusiast or you work in a remote environment, our Wilderness and Remote First Aid course gives you the skills you need to respond to an emergency when help may be delayed.

Topics include:

• Primary and Secondary Assessments
• Head (Brain), Neck and Spinal Injuries
• Heat-Related Emergencies and Hypothermia
• Altitude-Related Illnesses, Allergies and Anaphylaxis
• Bone and Joint Injuries and Burns
• Wounds and Wound Infection
• And more!

The course is based on the Boy Scouts of America Wilderness First Aid Curriculum and Doctrine Guidelines and offers enhanced content and topics to meet OSHA’s Best Practices for Workplace First Aid Training Programs. The program offers flexibility for organizations and their instructors to adapt the course to varying environments.

Supporting Organizations
The following organizations have reviewed or expressed support for the American Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid course:

• American Camp Association
• American Canoe Association
• Boy Scouts of America
• Girl Scouts of the USA
• Jewish Community Centers Association
• National Recreation and Park Association
• Sierra Club

To request a spot in a patricular class please send an email to info@BSAWildernessFirstAid.com.

The cost of this course is $90.  This fee includes:

All Red Cross course manuals and reference guides
First Aid Training supplies and course kit
All forms and worksheets used in scenarios
Final examinations and registration with Red Cross
2 year Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid Certification & Card (if exam passed)
Cracker Barrel on Friday night

If you are not taking this course for BSA certification you will need to complete the health form found on this website and bring it with you on arrival along with all medications you will require for the weekend.

To enroll in a particular class send an email to info@BSAWildernessFirstAid.com. Payment is due 1 week prior to the class date.

Please review the document Health Precaution and Guidelines During Training.  Health forms will be kept by instructors and not returned. 

 Prerequisites to participate or receive your certification in this course are: 

• Be at least 14 years old on or before the last day of the class
• Possess a current adult CPR/AED certificate.  If you do not have a current CPR/AED certificate you may participate in the class but your certification will not be submitted until you have provided evidence that the CPR/AED certification is received.

What You Need To Know:

The outdoor Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid course will be unlike any previous classroom Red Cross Basic First Aid course you have taken. It consists of a minimum of 16 hours of instruction. 

• ·        Friday evening: 8:00 p.m. through 10:00 p.m.
• ·        Saturday: 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
• ·        Sunday: 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

The following is a list of the training conditions that you must be aware of that make this course unique: 

1. This course is taught completely outside in a 20-acre wilderness environment located between Carthage and Joplin, MO.  If it rains you’ll get wet, if it’s hot you will sweat.  Come prepared.  Just like an actual wilderness or remote first aid emergency, the class doesn’t stop if the weather goes sour.
2. You will hike into the training location and camp for the entire duration of the course.  Bring shelter, cooking gear, food, water, and personal first aid kit, everything you would normally take on a weekend or weeklong backpacking trip.  All your gear has to fit in your backpack.  The hike to the training/campsite may exceed .5 miles for some courses.  Please review the Minimum Gear Requirements document for equipment that you must bring with you.
3. Depending on the season the woods are shared with ticks, mosquitoes, spiders and snakes, including copperhead and water moccasin, so please be alert and prepared to camp ‘smart’.
4. The course makes use of realistic training scenarios and moulage.
5. Successful course completion requires participation in ALL course activities and skill sessions.
6. Some practice sessions will require strenuous physical activity including hiking on uneven terrain.
7. There will be potable water provided at the site to refill your personal water containers.
8. Rustic latrine facilities will be available at the site
9. Cell phone coverage at the site may be available but is not guaranteed 

Upon successful completion of the Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid course, you will receive a Red Cross certificate indicating Wilderness and Remote First Aid, which is valid for 2 years. 

You will be one of 6 to 10 participants taking the course during the weekend.   The first class session begins on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.  Please arrange to arrive at the participant parking area no later than 6:30 p.m. to allow time to check in, hike to campsite and set up tents.  

Once you are confirmed in the class, you will be sent an email with a Goggle Map link providing the location of the participant parking and training area .

For participant security, the location of the parking and training area is not made available to the general public on this website, however it will be provided to each participant and family in advance of the course date. 

If you need additional information please send an email toSchedule and future class date is not on the website http://www.BSAWildernessFirstAid.com/ All correspondence sent to this address will be immediately forwarded to both the course instructors listed below. 

Curtis Ware		Dan Webber
Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid Instructor		Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid Instructor
				For more information about this website you may email: info@BSAWildernessFirstAid.com