First aid when help is hours away
Wilderness and Remote First Aid prepares you to assess, treat and decide what to do next when an ambulance is not minutes away: on the trail, at camp, or after a disaster.
Different from standard first aid
Standard first aid assumes help arrives in minutes. Wilderness first aid assumes it does not. You learn to keep caring for someone over hours, to improvise with what is in your pack, and to make the call on whether to walk out, carry out or wait for rescue.
- Scene safety and a complete patient assessment
- Bleeding control, wounds and infection prevention
- Sprains, fractures and improvised splints
- Head, neck and spine concerns
- Cold and heat emergencies
- Bites, stings and allergic reactions
- Evacuation decisions and prevention
Course details and requirements: American Red Cross: Wilderness and Remote First Aid
Before you register
- Be 14 or older by the last session
- Hold a current adult CPR/AED certification. Find a Red Cross CPR class
- Plan to attend every session; the certificate requires all sessions and all skills
- Dress for outdoor practice: we run scenarios outside in most weather
- Sign the waiver (parent or guardian for under-18s)
From classroom to the trail
CPR/AED first
Bring your current adult CPR/AED certification. It is the Red Cross prerequisite.
Skills sessions
Assessment, wound care, splinting, environmental emergencies, hands-on with real gear.
Scenario day
Realistic outdoor scenarios: you find, assess, treat and decide on evacuation.
Certificate
Complete every session and skill to earn the Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid certificate.
How it connects to the honors
The Wilderness Living Honor asks you to know eight wilderness conditions on top of the First Aid honor. This course covers them in depth, and it is the training we want every adult leader on a campout to have.