Has anyone taken an wilderness advanced life support class?

[KELRAG]

There are several options for wilderness ALS and Im trying to figure out which one is the best. the prices range from $500 to around $1500. If im gonna pay any of those amounts I want to get alot out of it. Ive seen some from WMI and WMS. Has anyone taken any of these or heard anything about a course good or bad? The price isnt as important as the content. Thanks!

[BossyCow]

There are a lot of options and some of them are indeed pretty pricey. I would take into account what you are going to be doing with the information. Are you going to be working as a paid EMS provider in a wilderness setting? Otherwise, the layout for wilderness ALS is pretty pointless. You have to consider the return on your investment.

One of the big differences between wilderness and urban med is the isolation, higher risk of infection and the ever crucial, "do I even start care" question. So, you need to look at the area where you will be practicing to determine if you really need the Wilderness ALS component. Otherwise a regular Wilderness BLS or First Aid might be enough.

If your wilderness is highly accessible and a short distance from a hospital or trauma center, there's less differences in your care of a pt than there is with a two to three day pack out with a critical pt.

[yowzer]

I think the biggest bonus to having a wilderness ALS capability is in the ability to give pain killers.

Had a hours-long steep angle evac a few weeks ago of a guy with a nasty leg fracture. He was in agony, screaming at every bump... It would have been wonderful to have had someone there able to give him morphine or the like to make it easier for him.

[BossyCow]

I think the biggest bonus to having a wilderness ALS capability is in the ability to give pain killers.

Had a hours-long steep angle evac a few weeks ago of a guy with a nasty leg fracture. He was in agony, screaming at every bump... It would have been wonderful to have had someone there able to give him morphine or the like to make it easier for him.

We have had to deal with that issue in our SAR group. We have two paramedic volunteers. Our group is only BLS and not allowed to carry narcotics. One of the medics was able to get a vial of morphine for a particular rescue. He had to sign it out with the permission of the MPD and it was in his possession for the entire time.

Narcotics are so highly regulated that the logistics of carrying them in a wilderness pack is difficult. Where is the pack stored? Who's responsible for outdates? How do you make sure that the meds are tampered with?

[KELRAG]

Im trying to get a job as a medic for a dive/ sailing camp. I am not sure how remote it actually is but I know that there is only one level three trauma center anywhere near. there also might be a jungle component to it. I realize I prob wont be doing any ALS there anyway but id like to have the additional knowledge for the future and to say look what I can do. I have a hard time seeing chest tubes in the protocal. The WEMT prob would work. but i think the WALS would make me more attractive to hire.

Is his forum mainly people from WA?

Thanks for all ya'lls posts

[yowzer]

Narcotics are so highly regulated that the logistics of carrying them in a wilderness pack is difficult. Where is the pack stored? Who's responsible for outdates? How do you make sure that the meds are tampered with?

Oh, it's not really feasible. It would still be nice, though.

[yowzer]

Is his forum mainly people from WA?

No. I think there's only 3 or 4 of us who admit to it; it's just that 2 of us are involved in SAR and thus wilderness medicine.