First Aid/CPR

[rpettit]

I have seen a lot of comments and polls on first aid kits, the 10 essentials and the supposed knowledge required to properly utilize them, but very little on the training aspect. Do you take a Basic First Aid/CPR course annually?

[SGT Rock]

Yes. Combat Lifesaver course. It doesn't get you CPR certified, but it is also a little more advanced than the basic first aid courses I have been in.

[rpettit]

I have seen a lot of comments and polls on first aid kits, the 10 essentials and the supposed knowledge required to properly utilize them, but very little on the training aspect. Do you take a Basic First Aid/CPR course annually? Could the average hiker visiting this website properly and effectively apply first aid or CPR?

[Footslogger]

Yes ...advanced patient care and cardiac life support skills course is required here at the clinic. Actual certification is every 2 years but we do a refresher annually.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[rpettit]

I meant this to be a poll, so I started another one. Please delete this thread.

[Ridge]

My husband now has to be certified in cpr and first aid to work as a volunteer chainsaw operator with the USFS. I think the cpr has a yearly renewal, the first aid and the chainsaw is every 3, but I could be wrong. hikerwife

[SGT Rock]

I did you one better, I merged the other thread responses into this thread with poll.

[TakeABreak]

I do not take the first aid & cpr courses annually, but I have been by the military in this and have had at 8 or 9 military and / or red cross refresher courses over the last 27 years. I am confident I could what be needed.

I do admit I have wanted to take an advance life saver course, and I should take a refresher course every year, glad you brought it up, I am going to go and see when the next available course is and sign up for at least a refresher course it has been 4 years, since my last one.

[DebW]

I was an instructor in Red Cross First Aid (Standard and Advanced) and CPR for about 20 years, but quit about 6 years ago. Last year I took a FA/CPR course for NPS chainsaw certification. I don't feel that annual recertification is necessary for competence after the skills are ingrained over many years.

[The Old Fhart]

It has been my experience that while standard 1st aid courses are of some help, they are of little use in the backcountry where you really need to be trained in wilderness 1st aid (or WEMT). If you take a NOLS course and they show you 1st aid, it will be far different than the standard 1st aid the American Red Cross teaches.

So where do these outdoors instructors get their training? Well, one place is SOLO in North Conway, NH. Since 1976, SOLO has instructed over 75,000 individuals, guides, mountain rescue teams, and staffs from organizations such as NOLS, Outward Bound, the Appalachian Mountain Club, Nantahala Outdoor Center, The Sierra Club, and the National Park Service as well as fire, rescue and ambulance services.

The NH chapter of AMC sends all their volunteer trip leaders to SOLO for training and covers the cost. At our NHAMC Mountain Safety Workshops, held 3 times per year, all our instructors are trained and we also have an instructor who is an expert in cold weather and backcountry injuries, and was 2004 NH EMS educator of the year. Many of us have been involved in search and rescue operations in the backcountry and know the value of wilderness 1st aid training first hand.

This past year there was a group of about 12 NHAMC leaders who climbed Mt. Rainier and on the way down found this woman with little more than a fanny pack who had broken her ankle while glissading with crampons (a BIG no-no) and was hypothermic. The local ranger who came by let the NH group handle the entire rescue because they were totally prepared and even made a rescue litter out of climbing rope. She and her husband had no extra (or even necessary) gear but the group had extra gear, sleeping bags, tarps, etc, to make the “human burrito” or hypothermia wrap to protect her. After they stabilized her ankle and re-warmed her they carried her slowly to an area where a chopper could land and take her to a hospital.

I know this just ain’t gonna happen but it is a good idea for everyone to be prepared by having the proper gear and training for whatever conditions they are going to encounter. And, if you’re not prepared, just hope someone like me with a big 1st aid kit comes by to help you.

[Pencil Pusher]

No not annually. Good stuff to know for those that haven't been exposed to it. I'll be interested in reading old fart's account in Accidents in North American Mountaineering.

[VAMTNHIKER]

Having been a Red Cross and Heart Association CPR Instructor and a New York State EMT Instructor back in the '80s and '90s, I just review the latest wilderness first aid and EMT gouge every year or so...

Up until when I retired from the Navy (2000), I was "trained" (e.g. not certified) in CPR annually... this was a job requirement due to being an Electricians Mate / Nuclear Engineering dude...

"Train me or Trade me!"

...though I did receive another 8 hours of first aid training during a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) course this past winter...

[Trail Yeti]

Wilderness First Responder (WFR) recert every 3 years, and I recert my CPR every year

[Chip]

CPR each year, Wilderness First Aid every 2 yrs.

[Doctari]

Every year for the past 30 years. Was an instructor for 7 of those years.
Been a EMT/Paramedic for 23 years, so now I am required to do the CPR thing.

Doctari.

[Frosty]

I think annually is a little excessive unless you are a paramedic or something.

I think one should understand first aid and treatment options, and I think taking a course or two is a good idea. But no need to repeat it annually until I get so stupid that I can't remember from year to year. Which could happen any year now....

[Bob Baker]

I take them every year because it is required by my job. Obviously, common sense is the most important thing but these classes are helpful. I would say that the CPR class is more useful than the first aid because most of the first aid stuff is general knowledge.

[gsingjane]

Girl Scout leaders are required to take First Aid every three years and re-cert in CPR every year. Every year I do it, I am amazed at how much I forgot since the last time... thank goodness I haven't needed anything except "Basic Boo-Boos" yet...

Jane in CT

[wacocelt]

I was a combat life saver in the Infantry and have since participated in Red Cross Emergency/Disaster Training, but am far from yearly certification for CPR or First Aid. I am confident that my 'basic' abilities should suffice for most injuries and illness that may be encountered on the trail. If my skills are lacking I still retain the strength and motivation to either move the injured person or double time off a mountain and retrieve skilled personel.

[Scrunchy]

To be a sawyer, you now have to have CPR, First Aid, and a Chainsaw Course. I ended up taking everything to get my sawyer certification, and wilderness first aid was definitely the most valuable! It was a fun, interesting and extremely useful course. 2 year renewal on Wilderness First Aid, and one year on CPR.