Defining Standards for Wilderness First Aid

The concept of consistency in the content of Wilderness First Aid (WFA) and Wilderness First Responder (WFR) programs is receiving much attention. Tod Schimelpfenig from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS and Dr. David Johnson of Wilderness Medical Associates have been talking for several years about this question of curriculum consistency. In order to address this issue they have taken the step, with input from peer groups including Aerie, SOLO, Wilderness Medicine Training Center, Wilderness Medicine Outfitters, Landmark Learning and Desert Mountain Medicine, of drafting a Scope of Practice (SOP) for WFA and WFR. Scope of Practice is medical jargon for a job description, a statement about what a WFA or WFR should be able to do, and not do.

Tod has posted a draft of the Scope of Practice document on the Wilderness Medicine Blog for open comment. This is an important opportunity for programs who utilize these levels of first aid certification to comment. Read the Scope of Practice draft and post your comments here or contact either Tod Schimelpfenig or Dave Johnson directly.