Club Members Attend Wilderness First Aid Course

Margo practices splinting Pat’s fractured leg while Wilderness First Aid Instructor Perry provides feedback

Margo practices splinting Pat’s fractured leg while Wilderness First Aid Instructor Perry provides feedback

Several members of the Parkland Cross Country Ski Club and the Central Alberta Mountain Club participated in a three day Wilderness First Aid Course put on by Perry from  St. John Ambulance. A huge thank you goes out to Jeff for all his time spent organizing the course even though he was not participating!

We were fortunate that St. John’s let us use their indoor training facility for the first day as outside temperature were hovering close to -30 C so most of the day was spent reviewing standard first aid skills from the manual rather than outside monitoring the effects of hypothermia. So a big thank you to St. Johns Ambulance! Days two and three were spent outside at Mackenzie Trails in much warmer conditions.

The Wilderness First Aid course covered everything from general outdoor skills such as fire starting with a flint, knot tying and shelter building to emergency first aid and extended care in the back country where help may be days away.

Perry reviews how Pat is dealing with Margo’s simulated hand amputation

Perry reviews how Pat is dealing with Margo’s simulated hand amputation

Each day included multiple hands on training scenarios where we practiced wound care, splinting fractures, evacuating casualties on backboards and preparing a helicopter landing zone and dozens of other skills.

By the end of the course I think we all felt more capable in dealing with emergency situations but I hope we all play safe so that we never get to use our new skills.