Wilderness Practitioner Course Sample Syllabus
for licensed Physicians, Physician Associates, & Nurse Practitioners
Online Modules
General Topics
Trauma Topics
Environmental Topics
Medical Topics
Practice Case Studies
- Wilderness EMS
- General Concepts in Patient Care
- Body Defenses
- Basic Pharmacology
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Patient Assessment System (PAS)
- Patient SOAP Notes
Trauma Topics
- Introduction to Trauma
- Increased ICP & Concussion
- Skull & Facial Fractures
- Bleeding & Volume Shock
- Respiratory Distress
- Stable & Unstable Extremity Injuries
- Spine & Cord Injuries
- Dislocations
- Wounds
- Focused Spine Assessment
- Assessing Traumatic Problems
Environmental Topics
- Dehydration
- Sun Exposure
- Heat Illnesses
- Hypothermia
- Cold Injuries
- Drowning
- Allergies & Anaphylaxis
- Wilderness Toxins
- Lightning Injuries
- Acute Mountain Sickness
- Diving Injuries
- Sea & Motion Sickness
- Assessing Environmental Problems
Medical Topics
- Infectious Diseases
- Circulatory System Problems
- Respiratory System Problems
- Gastrointestinal System Problems
- Genitourinary System Problems
- Diabetes
- Seizures
- Ear Problems
- Eye Problems
- Nose Problems
- Tooth & Gum Problems
- Assessing Medical Problems
Practice Case Studies
Practical Session
Class begins at 8 AM with a mid-day break for lunch around 12-1 PM, afternoon sessions tend to end between 5:30-6 PM.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 1
- Course Introduction
- Basic Life Support Skills Lab & Simulations
- Review WMTC SOAP note & Evaluation Process
- Traumatic Video Simulation
- Focused Spine Assessment Lab
- Traumatic Video Simulations
Day 2
- Basic Extremity Splinting Lab
- Wound Cleaning Lab
- Traumatic Video Simulations
Day 3
- Advanced Extremity Splinting Lab
- Improvised Pelvic Binder Lab
- Spine Management Lab
- Hypothermia Packaging Lab
- Improvised Litters & Carries Lab
Day 4
- Assessing Medical Problems
- Medical Simulations
- Mental Health Assessment
- Mass Casualty Video Simulation
- Course Debrief & Closing
- Clean-up
In-person Lab Descriptions
- Basic Life Support Lab: Addresses all elements of the Scene and Primary Surveys.
- Wound Cleaning Lab: Pig’s feet are used for training realistic wound cleaning and removal of impaled objects. Discussion on primary vs. delayed primary vs. secondary closure. Dressing & bandaging options.
- Basic Extremity Splinting Lab: Padded aluminum splints are used to improvise effective extremity splints using the buddy & cast splinting concepts. Requires a cut T-shirt roll and a pair of heavy hiking socks; the socks will not be cut.
- Advanced Extremity Splinting Lab: Common expedition equipment is used to improvise effective lower extremity splints using the buddy, jelly roll, and sandwich splinting concepts.
- Focused Spine Assessment Lab: How to assess and rule out possible spine injuries in a wilderness context.
- Spine Management Lab: Lifting, moving, and packaging potentially spine-injured patients in one or more commercial litters. Includes pressure infusion bag for rapid infusion of IV fluids for dehydration or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)
- Improvised Carries Lab: Quick and practical methods for carrying out an injured patient.
- Improvised Litter Lab: A daisy chain rope litter and stretcher are shown and practiced.
- Dislocations Lab: Relocation techniques for indirect anterior shoulder, lateral patella, and digits are demonstrated and practiced. Jaw reduction and passive anterior shoulder reduction techniques are demonstrated.
- Improvised Hypothermia Packaging Lab: Sleeping bags, pads, tarps or plastic sheeting, and water bags/bottles are used to improvise a hypothermia package.
- Simulations: Role plays incorporating patient assessment & documentation. Makeup is used to increase the reality of traumatic simulations and cutable simulation clothing is required.
