First Aid for the Backyardsman

When I first got into this whole prepping / backwoodsman / backyardsman frame of mind, the hardest thing to find was first aid training. I signed up for CERT training and got a little bit of first aid from that, but it was very basic. I wanted more. many hours of looking online didn’t give me what I wanted. A lot of what I found was contradictory. Local Red Cross first aid training was disappointing. It seemed like nothing more than get the casualty breathing, call 911, and wait for the professionals to show up. That doesn’t cut it in the woods, so I kept looking.

A couple weeks ago I found what I’m looking for. The funny thing is it was on a blog that has nothing to do with first aid. One of the posts mentioned something called “WFR training.” My reaction was “WTF is WFR?” so I googled… WFR means Wilderness First Responder. Hmmm, might be related to first aid that’s actually useful to a backwoodsman or backyardsman…

When I searched for “Wilderness First Responder training” I found an outfit called National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). They offer a lot of classes that might be of interest to backwoodsmen and backyardsmen, but the one I’m interested in is their Wilderness First Responder course. It’s a 9 day course that looks really comprehensive. I WANT to take this course. So I have to talk to the wife…

And then a miracle occurs…

I talked her into letting me take the class. Keep in mind the class itself is $800, plus I’ll be away from home for 2 weeks. Oh, and about $1000 for a motel plus gas to get there, meals, etc. So I’m not exaggerating much when I call it a miracle that I’m going with my wife’s blessing. You married guys know what I’m talking about…

The class starts in about 5 weeks. To kind of prime my brain I’m taking a BLS CPR certification class this weekend. As a bonus, the WFR class is being held in my home town. Been meaning to get back for awhile and this gives me a really good reason to go.

Besides the WFR course, NOLS offers a 2 day Wilderness First Aid class and a 26 day Wilderness EMT class. The WFA class might be good for the Backyardsman who doesn’t have 9 days and ~$2000 (total) to burn. The EMT class is a full blown EMT licensing course and is priced accordingly (around $4500, but the tuition includes lodging and meals for the entire 26 days). If I like the WFR class I’ll probably take the EMT course next year. That might be a good job for me to have if I can retire next year.

First Aid for the Backyardsman

I think having first aid skills is important for anyone spending a lot of time off the beaten path. So far I’ve had a hard time finding good first aid training. The NOLS training looks good, and a friend who is a volunteer fireman knows about their program and recommends it. So we’ll see, and I’ll post a full review of the class when I finish it.

Peace out,
porcupine

Related Links:

NOLS Wilderness Medicine course offerings

What did you do to prep this week?

This weeks preps – September 22, 2019

I got a lot of organizing done in my garage this week, and also got my reloading bench cleaned off. Now I can actually use it for a reloading bench again. I also spent more time studying for my general class amateur radio license and did some research on first aid classes I can take. The “need” for recruiting a doctor (or at the least a nurse) seems to be a recurring theme on prepper blogs.  I’m not much of a recruiter so I decided I need to learn some stuff on my own.

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) offers a 9 day Wilderness First Responder (WFR) class I want to take. Even better, they’re holding one in my home town (about a 4 hour drive). I have my wife half talked into letting me take the class. The only holdup is 2 vacant (and trashed) rental units I have to finish first. So I’ll be busy with that for the next few weeks… What did you do to prep this week?

Peace out,
porcupine

What did you do to prep this week?

This weeks preps – September 15, 2019

This week I went to my prepper group’s monthly meeting. We talked about wild edible plants that grow in our area. One thing that was brought up is the fact that most books on wild edibles do a poor job of explaining what areas different plants grow, You can be reading the best book ever written on the subject, but if it doesn’t talk about plants that grow in your area it doesn’t do you much good. We also talked about the lack of wild game in our area. We have rabbits and ground squirrels and not much else. I asked about a fat source (you need fat to survive) and learned that pine nuts are a great source of dietary fat if you need it. We have pinyon pines within 20 miles of my house so I’m planning on getting some this fall. Come to think of it, it’s already harvest season for pine nuts…

Besides that, I’ve been working out, organizing my stuff (especially my prepping stuff), working on my prepping plans, and studying for my general class ham radio license. What did you do to prep this week? Until next time…

Peace out,
porcupine

Have you been prepping lately?

I’ve been slacking in my preps lately. How about you, have you been prepping? I’ve been going to my group’s monthly meetings, but that’s about it. The August meeting was kind of FUBAR though, and the aftermath was kind of a wake-up call for me.

How to scare people away from your group:

It started out OK. We were talking about wild edible plants that grow locally. We have had a fairly new member that I like a lot. Her politics are different than mine but I don’t care. She’s smart and had skills she was willing to share. She also asked good questions that led to more discussion on whatever we were talking about. She doesn’t didn’t attend every month, so I was really glad to see her at the August meeting.

Unfortunately, the meeting was shorter than normal so the group was just hanging out and talking.  Without getting into the gory details, some of the talk devolved into conspiracy theories and then sunk even further into what I call bat shit crazy. About 10 minutes into the “conversation,” our new member got up, quietly excused herself, and left.

There were a couple takeaways for me. For groups as a whole, stay focused on the topic. For me personally, I wish I’d tried to steer the conversation back towards Realityville as soon as I saw it starting to veer towards la-la land.

Back to prepping…

We lost two members over the fiasco. One I was sorry to see go, the other one not so much. The good thing was I think it was a wake up call to stay focused on prepping. After all, it is a prepping group…

As part of the aftermath, our group leader asked everyone for their 3, 6, and 12 month prepping goals. Not as a demand. but as an aid to our preps. I agree that’s a really good idea. As someone once said, “failing to plan is planning to fail.” So that’s what I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. My short term goals are mostly organizational and planning. Medium and long term goals are mainly related to sustainability and self reliance instead of buying more stuff.  Now that I’m back to it, I’ll resume my This Week’s Preps series starting Sunday.

Peace out,
porcupine