WBLS Course - Sample Syllabus
8-9 hours
About this Course
Our Wilderness Basic Life Support course is designed for people traveling with reliable cell phone coverage where outside assistance is typically available within one hour.
Our WBLS course focuses on basic life support — the assessment and treatment skills necessary to address a life-threatening injury or illness until more advanced help arrives. Our Wilderness Basic Life Support goes a few steps further than urban BLS courses. It helps students understand when an urgent evacuation is needed, how to splint common extremity injuries for safe transport, and how to safely assist ambulatory patients during evacuation.
This syllabus may change based on particular course needs, changes in certification standards, etc. We'll do our best to keep it updated here!
Schedule & Topics
- Opening
- Med/Legal Considerations
- General Concepts in Patient Care & BLS Assessment & Treatment
- Severe Bleeding
- Blocked Airway
- Respiratory or cardiac arrest
- Depressed level of consciousness
- Spinal cord protection
- Basic Life Support Lab
- Basic Life Support Simulations
Lunch
- History, Physical Exam, Vital Signs [AVPU & heart rate], Evaluation, & Evacuation
- Assessing Extremity injuries
- Basic Extremity Splinting Lab
- Stable & Unstable Wrist/Forearm Splint
- T-shirt Buddy Splint
- Stable & Unstable Knee Splints
- Unstable Ankle Splint
- Stable Ankle Splint
- Patient Documentation
- Full simulations
- Improvised Carries
- Course Evaluations & Closing
* Wilderness Adult, Child & Infant CPR ± AED certification are optional modules that require 1-2 hours of additional course time. If these modules are a part of your course, you must attend.
Wilderness Basic Life Support Lab Descriptions
- Basic Life Support Lab: Addresses all elements of the Scene and Primary Surveys. Cuttable simulation clothing is required. Basic adult and child CPR training is part of this course; however, you must attend the evening session to receive CPR or AED certification.
- Basic Life Support Simulations: Role plays incorporating patient assessment & BLS documentation. Make-up is used to increase the reality of traumatic simulations and cuttable simulation clothing is required.
- Basic Extremity Splinting Lab: Padded aluminum splints are used to improvise extremity splints. Bring two cut T-shirt rolls [go here to watch a demo video] and a pair of heavy hiking socks; the socks will not be cut.
- Improvised Carries demonstration: Instructor demonstration of simple improvies carries.
- Full Simulations: Advanced role plays that include BLS assessment & treatment plus history, physical exam, and patient documentation. Make-up is used to increase the reality of traumatic simulations and cuttable simulation clothing is required.
This course meets the Occupational and Safety Health Association (OSHA) guidelines and may meet your state’s or organization’s minimum CPR and first aid requirements for coaches or guides [check with your state or organization]. The skills and techniques taught during the course are based on practice guidelines established by the Wilderness Medical Society and the American Heart Association. When you have successfully completed the course, you will receive a completion card.
