Wilderness First Aid (WFA)

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Course Overview

This is an in-person Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course that also includes rescue breathing, CPR, and use of an AED. It consists of two hands-on training days on Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 6pm at the Seattle Program Center plus a short 30-minute online CPR/AED training module.  The activities are a mix of lectures, demonstrations, hands-on skills practice, and group scenarios. Most activities are indoors, but some may be held outdoors  weather permitting. Instruction is provided by professional first responders via our training partner Remote Medical Training (RMT).

On successful completion students will receive a Mountaineers WFA Course badge as well as WFA and CPR/AED certificates from RMT that are good for two years. All students receive a 180-page printed Course Manual at the beginning of the first in-person class day.

The class consists solely of the two in-person training days and the 30-minute online module. Students do not need to do any additional work before or after.  In order to receive credit students must be present for the entire duration of both class sessions and successfully complete all class training and scenarios.  

Participants must be at least 18 years of age.

As per our contract with RMT, classes with fewer than 15 students may have to be cancelled.

Updates for 2025

Based on feedback from students and activity committees,  Seattle WFA classes taught by RMT have been updated for 2025 as follows:

• Students now receive a 180-page printed and bound Course Manual that can be use for reference, additional self-study, etc.
• The class now includes CPR/AED training with rescue breathing, and a discussion of the applicability and limitations of CPR and rescue breathing in wilderness situations.
• The hands-on practice scenarios now emphasize situations that occur most frequently on Mountaineers trips, as documented in after-trip incident reports and summarized by the Mountaineers Safety Committee.

Cancellations and refunds

This is an expensive class for us to offer, and we are unable to issue refunds after we ourselves had made financial commitments to others.  In order to be as flexible as possible, the class has a staged refund policy as follows:

• May 2 or earlier: 100% refund minus the standard Mountaineers cancellation fee of $10.
• May 3 though  5pm, May 9: 50% refund minus the standard Mountaineers cancellation fee of $10.
• After 5pm, May 9: No refunds.  

All class activities are required and must be successfully completed in order: 30-minute online  CPR/AED training module followed by both days of in-person training. We are unable to provide make ups for any of the class activities. 

EQUIVALENCY 

If you have a current WFA or WFR certificate from another organization, or you have extensive experience in providing medical care in remote or austere environments, you may be able to get the course badge via equivalency. See Equivalency Information for details.