NOLS Wilderness Medicine’s goal is to provide the highest quality education and information for the recognition, treatment, and prevention of wilderness emergencies.
Our teaching philosophy is to emphasize treatment principles and decision-making, not the memorization of lists. We employ scenario-based teaching as a complement to lecture style instruction.
The health and well-being of our students and staff are a priority, as is the effective education of our students. To achieve these goals for a group in an educational setting with both classroom and active outdoor practical scenarios, each student must be fully committed to and capable of working hard, taking responsibility for themselves, and working effectively in the group.
Essential eligibility requirements for the course must be met. A qualified person is one who can meet the EEC for participation in the program activity.
The NOLS Wilderness Medicine Essential Eligibility Criteria (EEC) is applicable to all wilderness medicine students.
- Must be able to stay alert and to focus for eight to twelve hours a day in a classroom for up to nine consecutive days.
- Must be able to stay alert and to focus for several hours at a time while performing patient care in a learning scenario or traveling over rough, uneven terrain, or during periods of inclement weather.
- Must be able to respond appropriately to stress, a simulated crisis or a medical emergency in severe weather, darkness and remote outdoor settings.
- Must be able to tolerate wearing a mask or face-covering for up to four hours at a time.
- If taking prescription medications students must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from instructors.
- The student must be able to perform all tasks related to patient care, including the ability to log roll a patient, palpate a patient for injuries from head to toe, perceive and assess a patient’s verbal and nonverbal responses to examination. Must possess the ability to treat and attend to a patient’s needs while on rocky, wet, sloped, brush covered, forested, snow covered or otherwise rugged and uneven terrain, and with the patient on the ground in awkward, crowded or low spaces. Possess the ability to withstand varied environmental conditions such as extreme heat, cold, and precipitation. Be able to work in conditions of limited visibility including darkness and in the vicinity of loud noises such as created by wind or rushing water.
- The student must possess the ability to perceive and understand instructions; must possess the ability to use good judgment and remain calm in high-stress situations; must possess the ability to function efficiently in a medical/rescue exercise, which could be six hours in duration.
- The student must possess the ability to read in the language in which the course is taught, which is primarily English, but can include Spanish, Swedish, and Portuguese.
- The student must possess the ability to independently interview patients, family members and bystanders; possess the ability to document all relevant information in prescribed SOAP format; possess the ability to converse in English with co-workers, rescue and medical staff as to the status of patients, unless the course is taught primarily in a different language.
- For Wilderness EMT courses, the student must possess the ability to hear and respond to radio/telephone instructions; auscultate using a stethoscope; and respond to verbal prompts from an automated external defibrillator (AED).
- Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept differences.
- Contribute to a safe learning environment – no harassing or abusive behavior of others for any reason.
- All students are learning the skills and being challenged by the conditions and activities; there can be no expectation that any other student will be able to continually assume a greater share of the work or that an instructor can continually focus a greater share of his/her energy and time on one student.
- Effectively communicate ideas and concerns on an individual and group level.
- Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills given normal time limitations of a NOLS Wilderness Medicine course.
- Effectively communicate danger to others either as warning of danger others may be encountering such as rockfall or aggressive animals, or as notification of personal distress, injury, or need for assistance.