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Students prepare for wilderness training |
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Thursday, 22 February 2007 |
by NICK IANNIELLO
News Reporter
Outdoor enthusiasts in Watauga County will have an opportunity to train themselves in wilderness medicine through university-run Camp Broadstone.
Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training will be offered March 10-18 at a cost of $725, and Wilderness First Aid (WFA) training with optional CPR certification will be offered April 13-15 for $170 or $200 for the entire class.
WFR certification is good for three years, and Camp Broadstone will offer a recertification course April 20-22 for $225.
These courses are offered through Landmark Learning and the Wilderness Medicine Institute.
“We have a very up to date curriculum,” Landmark Learning Administrative Director Mairi S. Padgett said.
Wilderness medicine courses differ from other courses because they
focus on the lack of immediate access to professional medical care.
“You are the link to 911,” Padgett said.
Appalachian State University students who want wilderness medicine
training can get it at a discounted price through the university.
WFA training and WFR Recertification courses are offered for $50 and $60 through Outdoor Programs at the end of each semester.
WFR Courses are offered as a three-credit-hour course for $100.
Priority in these classes is given to students who are studying outdoor
experimental education because they often need this certification to
get work.
“We were one of the first colleges in the country to teach WFR as an
academic course,” Brent Cochran, Outdoor Programs coordinator and WFR
instructor, said.
The courses offered specifically to students are taught through Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities.
“For all intents and purposes the curricula are the same,” Cochran
said. “SOLO has bent over backwards to get Appalachian students trained
at a low cost.”
The main difference between WFA and WFR courses is the extent of the
curriculum. WFA courses are introductory courses with less information
than a WFR course. WFR courses are the gold standard of
outdoor medicine. Most any professional guide has some form of WFR certification.
No one knows that better than Alex M. Hyman, a junior industrial technologies major and avid
whitewater kayaker, whose WFR training helped him recognize a skull fracture in a fellow paddler.
While kayaking on the Cheoah River near Robbinsville, N.C., one of
Hyman’s companions flipped over and struck his head on an underwater
rock.
After being checked over by several paddlers they decided to finish paddling the river.
“There was really no indication that there was something wrong,” Hyman said.
Later that day Hyman was at Wendy’s when he noticed that his friend was
becoming very irritable, which can be a sign of severe head injury.
“He’s usually a pretty happy guy,” Hyman said.
Then a drop of fluid leaked out of the injured paddler’s ear.
While many people may have mistaken this for water, Hyman knew exactly
what to do. He dabbed up some of the fluid on a napkin and observed as
the fluid produced a halo stain on the napkin.
This told Hyman that the fluid leaking out of his friend’s ear was
cerebral spinal fluid, and that it was a sign of a skull fracture.
“[The training] was just ringing in my head,” Hyman said.
After a trip to the hospital and several X-rays, doctors found a fracture in the paddler’s skull.
“If I hadn’t had this training, I probably wouldn’t have recognized it,” Hyman said.
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