Understanding Wilderness First Aid

Series Summary

Wilderness first aid training is important for anyone spending any amount of time in the wilderness. Most outdoors enthusiasts including hikers, climbers and skiers benefit greatly from knowing the basics of first aid. Although many first aid treatments require extensive training and practice, minor injuries can almost always be treated and prepared for professional care. Wilderness first aid administered in a timely fashion by someone trained can save lives. Learn how to administer wilderness first aid in survival situations where someone has sustained an injury, in this free video series featuring Albert Hedgepeth. Hedgpeth teaches how to triage wilderness injuries, deal with a medical emergency in the wilderness, assess an emergency situation in the wilderness, get emergency personnel to a wilderness accident, treat shock in the wilderness, treat leg injuries in the wilderness, plan for a wilderness emergency, treat head injuries in the wilderness, treat a knee injury in the wilderness and treat a foot injury in the wilderness.

Video Transcript

"What we're going to talk about right now is: what is first aid? And, first aid is pretty much the process of getting the first piece of help to a victim of an accident. And while you're in the wilderness, this is really important because usually there are no hospitals around; there are no doctors readily available. And, the person that's actually going through the accident is probably in a little bit of shock, because they understand that they are so far away from civilization. And they need some very specific first steps to go ahead and comfort them, calm them down, and to make an accurate plan of how they're going to move forward to get the medical attention they need. If someone were out hiking, and they were to fall and hit a branch and get a puncture wound, immediately they're going to need first aid. They're immobilized; they're not going to be able to walk; they've got an object that's protruding from them; and they're going to need some attention immediately. If someone slides down a cliff, gets abrasions, and is scratched up, they're going to need a different type of first aid. And if someone is in the water and inhales water, they're also going to need a different type of attention. So, first aid is pretty much just the process of surveying a scene of an accident. And in the wilderness this can be a little bit different, because you really have to make sure that the scene is safe for you to enter and that you can get to them and offer appropriate help. But getting there, assessing the situation, figuring out what type of medical attention is needed, and making sure that everyone in the situation is safe is really what first aid is all about. "