Rescue 101 SAR - Wilderness Medicine Courses

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Course Description:
The Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course is Rescue 101 SAR’s flagship medical training program—designed for search and rescue personnel, outdoor professionals, and wilderness leaders who may be called to respond in austere environments where definitive care is hours or days away. This intensive, scenario-based course builds the advanced skills and confidence needed to assess, treat, and manage medical and traumatic emergencies in the backcountry.

The WFR curriculum blends online learning with immersive, hands-on field training that emphasizes patient assessment, resourcefulness, and critical decision-making under pressure. Participants will learn to provide prolonged field care, manage limited medical supplies, and adapt standard emergency protocols for remote environments.

Skills Covered:

• Comprehensive patient assessment and triage 
• Airway management and oxygen administration in austere settings 
• Wound care, bleeding control, and infection prevention
• Splinting, dislocations, and fracture management using improvised materials
• Management of head, neck, and spinal injuries 
• Medical emergencies: cardiac, diabetic, allergic, respiratory, and neurological 
• Environmental emergencies: hypothermia, hyperthermia, lightning, altitude illness, bites, and stings 
• Evacuation planning, litter carries, and patient packaging for SAR extraction 
• Prolonged field care and communication with EMS or incident command 

Course Format:

• Hybrid Course: 30 hours of self-paced online instruction + 40 hours of in-person, scenario-based field training 
• Taught by experienced Rescue 101 SAR instructors and medical professionals 
• Certification is valid for 3 years upon successful completion 

Certification Issued By:
Ohio Wilderness Leadership School

Course Description:
The Wilderness EMT (WEMT) course offered by Rescue 101 SAR and the Ohio Wilderness Leadership School is an advanced, hybrid training program that merges traditional Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) education with specialized wilderness and austere medicine. This course is designed for EMS providers, SAR personnel, military medics, and outdoor professionals who may need to deliver high-level medical care in remote, resource-limited, or disaster environments.

Participants will expand their EMT knowledge and develop the confidence to perform critical interventions when transport or evacuation may be delayed by hours or days. Combining classroom learning, hands-on skills labs, and realistic outdoor scenarios, students learn to adapt standard emergency protocols to extreme and unpredictable environments.

Skills Covered:

• Comprehensive patient assessment in wilderness and disaster settings 
• Airway management and oxygen therapy without advanced equipment 
• Trauma care: bleeding control, wound management, splinting, and burns 
• Extended care and field sanitation for multi-day incidents 
• Management of environmental emergencies: hypothermia, heat illness, altitude sickness, lightning, and drowning 
• Improvised medical techniques and resourceful problem-solving 
• Evacuation and packaging for SAR operations 
• Team leadership, communications, and integration with incident command systems 
• Prolonged Field Care (PFC) and delayed evacuation decision-making 

Course Format:

• Hybrid Course: 70 hours of self-paced online learning and 7 days of intensive, scenario-based classroom and field instruction 
• Includes written, skills, and scenario evaluations 
• Led by Rescue 101 SAR medical instructors, paramedics, and wilderness medicine specialists 
• Certification is valid for 3 years upon successful completion 

Certification Issued By:
Ohio Wilderness Leadership School