|  | Public Health Safety | First Aid

Outdoor First Aid Training

The great outdoors present a specific set of challenges when administering first aid. These challenges have inspired training courses specific to the wilderness so that more people will be equipped for outdoor emergencies, resulting in more lives saved and more injuries successfully treated.

  1. Challenges

    • Challenges encountered while giving first aid in the wilderness include waiting longer for additional help due to being in an isolated area, and moving victims over a greater distance for the same reason. According to "Scouting" magazine, these challenges require additional and sometimes different procedures, such as more effort put into keeping a victim warm.

    Standards

    • The American Red Cross, an authority in emergency response, has developed an outdoor first aid training course. The course is based on the Boy Scouts of America's curriculum and has been reviewed or supported by an array of outdoor associations, including the American Camp Association.

    Details

    • Outdoor first aid training courses focus more on emergencies typical in the wilderness, such as broken arms and hypothermia. The Red Cross course also emphasizes head, neck and spinal injuries; heat related emergencies; burns, wounds, allergies; and altitude related sicknesses.

First Aid - Related Articles