Huh. Well, when they indicated that they had an interesting scenario planned, they weren't necessarily talking about the injuries and makeup! Yesterday's scenario had me in a bit of a love triangle with Joe, who had an unstable knee and severe peanut allergy, and his best friend Derrick, who got washed downstream in a flash flood and broke his pelvis while seven of us were out hiking. Unfortunately, my primary responder went straight to the root of my problem and completely bypassed the backstory, no matter how much I tried to get him back to it. (It's tough to direct the conversation when you're balled up, hyperventilating, and screaming in pain, but I tried!) Our group's other injuries included a lightning strike, a near drowning, and a snakebite/sprained ankle combo. No cool makeup for me, though, so no pictures- sorry!
It's hard to believe that today is our final day of WFR. I feel like I've been here for a year, and I mean that in the best way possible. It'll be strange not to go back to class on Sunday; I'm going to miss all of my new friends and the crazy shenanigans we get ourselves into. After this morning's written and practical exams, I'll find out if I can really call myself a "confident, competent WFR." I feel good about the written exam, but I'm worried that I'll just freeze up on the practical exam even though I'm pretty sure I know my stuff.
UPDATE: It's official- I am a confident, competent WFR! Joe and I both passed, which is awesome.
A million thanks to Daz and Jeff from Wilderness Medical Associates for putting on a great class for us and to Nancy for being our "WFR Mom." (She even ran out and bought me some nitrile gloves when I had a reaction to the vinyl gloves we started with.) This week has been amazing and exhausting. I have a million real life things to catch up on, but for now, I need a nap.
Showing posts with label Wilderness First Responder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wilderness First Responder. Show all posts
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
WFR Day 6
Day 6 was a good day- a little more relaxing than some earlier this week. We started the day off with a discussion of the legal aspects of WFR, a lot of which have different implications for Red River than they do for an individual WFR (pronounced woofer).
We then had a scenario drill to introduce us to the differences between heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and hyponatremia (drinking too much, eating too little, and sweating all of the salts out of your body). In the afternoon, they threw a monkey wrench in the response scenario by putting the responder on one side of a "raging river" while the unconscious victim and the victim's friend (who knows nothing about First Aid or CPR) are on the other side. I got to be the victim of a lightning strike in that scenario, and our responder (who just happened to be my Mr. Obnoxious from Wednesday's simulation) had to figure out how to walk my friend through saving me. It didn't work so well, but it perfectly illustrated the difficult situations we may eventually find ourselves in.
We also talked a bit about cold injuries- frostbite, avalanche, and Raynaud's syndrome. My Raynaud's has been acting up all week, so Daz wants me to show it off today if I get the chance. I can't wait for this afternoon's simulation- I just get to sit back, do some acting, and end off the week with some fun. I'm betting they have a good scenario planned since this is our last big hurrah before the test tomorrow. I'll try to get a picture or two of our makeup jobs to post.
We then had a scenario drill to introduce us to the differences between heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and hyponatremia (drinking too much, eating too little, and sweating all of the salts out of your body). In the afternoon, they threw a monkey wrench in the response scenario by putting the responder on one side of a "raging river" while the unconscious victim and the victim's friend (who knows nothing about First Aid or CPR) are on the other side. I got to be the victim of a lightning strike in that scenario, and our responder (who just happened to be my Mr. Obnoxious from Wednesday's simulation) had to figure out how to walk my friend through saving me. It didn't work so well, but it perfectly illustrated the difficult situations we may eventually find ourselves in.
We also talked a bit about cold injuries- frostbite, avalanche, and Raynaud's syndrome. My Raynaud's has been acting up all week, so Daz wants me to show it off today if I get the chance. I can't wait for this afternoon's simulation- I just get to sit back, do some acting, and end off the week with some fun. I'm betting they have a good scenario planned since this is our last big hurrah before the test tomorrow. I'll try to get a picture or two of our makeup jobs to post.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
WFR Day 5 - Updated
We did our second simulation yesday; I was a primary responder this time. My patient had an ankle injury he couldn't walk on and a small branch through his hand. Unfortunately, he was also this simulation's Mr. Obnoxious; his entire job consisted of hobbling away from me at every turn, trying to bandage himself with random stuff from my bag, and deafening me by yelling to his friends, other responders, and anyone within earshot (and some who were outside of earshot) to find out what was going on and if everyone else was alright. (Overall, the simulation involved a cookstove explosion, some hypothermia, toxic berries, and a few falls and impaled objects.) After a few minutes of being happily bandaged, he went into an acute asthma attack which quickly advanced to respiratory failure.
It was a high-stress day. One of the benefits of these simulations is that they do a pretty good job of getting your adrenaline levels going. Going through the simulation as a primary responder after half a week of high-intensity days is mentally and emotionally exhausting, and I think that's exactly the point. I hate to admit it, but I got in the car to go home after class last night and basically bawled like a child. (Thank goodness Joe was driving.) I just kept going over what I did wrong, what I should have done differently, and what I missed that might have triggered the asthma attack that ultimately led to us evacuating my previously-stable patient on a stretcher. Luckily for me, it was just a two-hour simulation, and now that I'm looking back on it, I actually ended up with the perfect patient for myself. I tend to be Way Too Nice, and dealing with an unruly patient who tried to take advantage of that was the best learning experience I could have asked for. At this point, I can only imagine how stressful a real-life first response situation will be like.
On the bright side, I get to be a patient for our final simulation on Friday. After the last two, I can't wait to see what they've got in store for us.
We also learned yesterday how to wrap hypothermia patients and to make improvised litters out of almost anything we have lying around: paddles and life jackets, climbing rope, tent poles, you name it. (And you guessed it- a couple of them included duct tape.)
UPDATE: I talked with Jeff before class began this morning, and I feel much better about yesterday's simulation. It turns out that my Mr. Obnoxious thought he had an internal bleed that they never actually gave him. Because of that, he showed symptoms of a problem for which there were no physical signs. (Turns out there was a little ad-libbing in there, too. *grin*) So even though I didn't do everything quite right, I ended up not doing too bad.
It was a high-stress day. One of the benefits of these simulations is that they do a pretty good job of getting your adrenaline levels going. Going through the simulation as a primary responder after half a week of high-intensity days is mentally and emotionally exhausting, and I think that's exactly the point. I hate to admit it, but I got in the car to go home after class last night and basically bawled like a child. (Thank goodness Joe was driving.) I just kept going over what I did wrong, what I should have done differently, and what I missed that might have triggered the asthma attack that ultimately led to us evacuating my previously-stable patient on a stretcher. Luckily for me, it was just a two-hour simulation, and now that I'm looking back on it, I actually ended up with the perfect patient for myself. I tend to be Way Too Nice, and dealing with an unruly patient who tried to take advantage of that was the best learning experience I could have asked for. At this point, I can only imagine how stressful a real-life first response situation will be like.
On the bright side, I get to be a patient for our final simulation on Friday. After the last two, I can't wait to see what they've got in store for us.
We also learned yesterday how to wrap hypothermia patients and to make improvised litters out of almost anything we have lying around: paddles and life jackets, climbing rope, tent poles, you name it. (And you guessed it- a couple of them included duct tape.)
UPDATE: I talked with Jeff before class began this morning, and I feel much better about yesterday's simulation. It turns out that my Mr. Obnoxious thought he had an internal bleed that they never actually gave him. Because of that, he showed symptoms of a problem for which there were no physical signs. (Turns out there was a little ad-libbing in there, too. *grin*) So even though I didn't do everything quite right, I ended up not doing too bad.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Halfway Through WFR!
Holy cow- class is halfway over! Finished up WFR day four yesterday with our first big simulation. A scenario similar to ours was filmed in Northern Michigan if you want to get an idea of what we got to do. (Ours involved significantly less snow, though.) As story has it, a wind storm arose unexpectedly, toppling some trees and injuring six people. I played secondary responder to a patient who was trapped under a fallen tree; we backboarded the patient for a spinal column injury and began preparing for a hasty evacuation as he started showing signs of volume shock. Our patient was in the middle of the pack, injury-wise. The injuries ranged from a pretty simple asthma attack and stable wrist injury to a combination spinal cord injury and open leg fracture. When all of the patients were cleared by the magical WFR Wand (which Daz waves upon correct diagnosis and course of action by the primary rescuer), we ended the scenario by litter-carrying one of the patients safely back to the classroom.
In one of those moments where you're forced to put together a bunch of things that you know in the back of your mind but never experienced all at once, wilderness medicine is a fairly messy process! For instance, there are a lot more sticks, twigs, and rocks to deal with when backboarding a patient beneath a fallen tree than there are on the lawn or in the classroom. That's part of the reason these simulations are so great.
In one of those moments where you're forced to put together a bunch of things that you know in the back of your mind but never experienced all at once, wilderness medicine is a fairly messy process! For instance, there are a lot more sticks, twigs, and rocks to deal with when backboarding a patient beneath a fallen tree than there are on the lawn or in the classroom. That's part of the reason these simulations are so great.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
WFR Day 3
So far this week, I've fallen off a horse named Thunderbolt, gone into respiratory distress from a mountain bike ride after catching a chest cold on a long plane flight, suffered from a kinked airway, and been found unconscious beneath a bench on campus. I've given CPR to a patient who was (unfortunately) recently deceased, helped an asthma patient, and assisted a wildland firefighter after heat exhaustion. I've learned how to backboard a patient, splint a limb, and clear a spine. I've assessed case studies of a climbing fall, a fall down a long snow slope, asthma while portaging, and burns from a cooking stove. And yesterday was only Day 3.
Today is our first quiz and our first major simulation. That's when the real makeup and fake blood come out, although they're not giving us any information about what the simulation will entail.
My classmates are a motley crew of folks- we have a 17 year old high school kid and a 55 year old gentleman. We have three women and fifteen men; a couple ex-military, several college students, and a Red Cross instructor. Since we're spending ten hours a day together, we're getting to know each other in that deep-but-still-superficial way; I don't know their favorite colors or the names of their family members, but I can tell you how most of my classmates respond to stressful situations. Who leads, who follows, and who doesn't know yet which they're better at. It's been really interesting watching everyone (even myself) change over the past two days. Most of us have gone from staring in wide-eyed wonder at the first fifteen acronyms they threw at us to using those acronyms with ease and staring in wide-eyed wonder at the next fifteen they threw at us. We're all becoming more comfortable with both the lingo and the concepts; I'll be interested to see us next Saturday afternoon. Will we be competent? Ready? We'll see.
Today is our first quiz and our first major simulation. That's when the real makeup and fake blood come out, although they're not giving us any information about what the simulation will entail.
My classmates are a motley crew of folks- we have a 17 year old high school kid and a 55 year old gentleman. We have three women and fifteen men; a couple ex-military, several college students, and a Red Cross instructor. Since we're spending ten hours a day together, we're getting to know each other in that deep-but-still-superficial way; I don't know their favorite colors or the names of their family members, but I can tell you how most of my classmates respond to stressful situations. Who leads, who follows, and who doesn't know yet which they're better at. It's been really interesting watching everyone (even myself) change over the past two days. Most of us have gone from staring in wide-eyed wonder at the first fifteen acronyms they threw at us to using those acronyms with ease and staring in wide-eyed wonder at the next fifteen they threw at us. We're all becoming more comfortable with both the lingo and the concepts; I'll be interested to see us next Saturday afternoon. Will we be competent? Ready? We'll see.
Monday, March 7, 2011
WFR Day 2
Yesterday started off with a guest CPR instructor. British gentleman; you may have seen his work before.
Day 2 of WFR was just as intense as Day 1, and I expect the trend to continue. The biggest distinction between WFR and a basic First Aid class is that WFR is training us to keep our heads and respond to unknown situations. Both days so far have included short simulations with unknown patients having unknown ailments. So far, we've simulated respiratory distress, trauma, shock due to dehydration, and even death. (Not only is this a responder class, it's also turning out to be an acting class- makeup and everything.) It's pretty neat how adding the element of the unknown really gets your adrenaline flowing, even without the addition of real blood, real patients, and real problems. It's pretty easy to see how that could have an exponential effect that complicates a real situation. (We'll get to start experiencing that tomorrow with our first big simulation.)
Today is the nervous system and musculoskeletal system, as well as how to get people out of the woods (splinting, moving, backboards, etc). I'm still hopeful that we'll have so much information in us by the end of class that I'll stop seeing everybody as a potential walking disaster. *grin*
Day 2 of WFR was just as intense as Day 1, and I expect the trend to continue. The biggest distinction between WFR and a basic First Aid class is that WFR is training us to keep our heads and respond to unknown situations. Both days so far have included short simulations with unknown patients having unknown ailments. So far, we've simulated respiratory distress, trauma, shock due to dehydration, and even death. (Not only is this a responder class, it's also turning out to be an acting class- makeup and everything.) It's pretty neat how adding the element of the unknown really gets your adrenaline flowing, even without the addition of real blood, real patients, and real problems. It's pretty easy to see how that could have an exponential effect that complicates a real situation. (We'll get to start experiencing that tomorrow with our first big simulation.)
Today is the nervous system and musculoskeletal system, as well as how to get people out of the woods (splinting, moving, backboards, etc). I'm still hopeful that we'll have so much information in us by the end of class that I'll stop seeing everybody as a potential walking disaster. *grin*
Sunday, March 6, 2011
WFR This Week
The Wilderness First Responder class started yesterday. Our syllabus is packed full; I have to learn how to deal with homework again, if only for a week! I'm glad I started reading the text when I did, because we have at least a few chapters to read each night, in addition to work from a couple of other books that we received today.
Our instructors, Daz and Jeff, are great- very knowledgeable, engaging, and fun. We've already had a chance to start discussing some of our Camp-specific needs and concerns with them, and hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have a good idea of what we'll need (and what we won't) to be able to respond to emergencies in our neck of the woods.
The class will be partly in the classroom but mostly outside for a lot of in-depth, hands-on drills. Yesterday covered scene size-up and initial assessment, along with respiratory and cardiac emergencies, and the entire week will focus on differentiating between emergencies we can handle ourselves and emergencies that require, and I quote, "bright lights, cold steel, and machines that go 'ping.'" I've got to tell you: after Day 1, I'm worried that I'm going to see potential emergencies everywhere! I'm sure that fear will settle down by the end of the class.
Although the rain held off yesterday, we're not so lucky today. We woke up to the pitter-patter of big heavy raindrops this morning, and the forecast says it's supposed to stick around all day. I'll keep you posted on how the week goes. In the meantime, here's another fun tidbit. WD-40 can apparently be applied to the skin to aid in the removal/cleaning of certain toxins. Who knew? Between that and duct tape, I have half a medical kit in the trunk of my car!
Our instructors, Daz and Jeff, are great- very knowledgeable, engaging, and fun. We've already had a chance to start discussing some of our Camp-specific needs and concerns with them, and hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have a good idea of what we'll need (and what we won't) to be able to respond to emergencies in our neck of the woods.
The class will be partly in the classroom but mostly outside for a lot of in-depth, hands-on drills. Yesterday covered scene size-up and initial assessment, along with respiratory and cardiac emergencies, and the entire week will focus on differentiating between emergencies we can handle ourselves and emergencies that require, and I quote, "bright lights, cold steel, and machines that go 'ping.'" I've got to tell you: after Day 1, I'm worried that I'm going to see potential emergencies everywhere! I'm sure that fear will settle down by the end of the class.
Although the rain held off yesterday, we're not so lucky today. We woke up to the pitter-patter of big heavy raindrops this morning, and the forecast says it's supposed to stick around all day. I'll keep you posted on how the week goes. In the meantime, here's another fun tidbit. WD-40 can apparently be applied to the skin to aid in the removal/cleaning of certain toxins. Who knew? Between that and duct tape, I have half a medical kit in the trunk of my car!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Yard Sale.
More fun with the Wilderness First Responder textbook. The authors start off the Trauma section by describing your basic skiing accident:
"Slow deceleration can dissipate a lot of energy. The high-speed skier who falls on a steep, open slope can dissipate his kinetic energy while sliding several hundred meters to a stop. Ski patrollers call this a yard sale because ski equipment and clothing tend to dissipate as well."
Unfortunately, I think our skiing days are over for the winter down here in the good ol' Commonwealth of Virginia, but they'll be alive and well for a while longer in Maine. Fear not, though- fishing season will be here before we know it!
(As a side note, there are two types of skiers. Those who have had a yard sale at some point, and liars.)
"Slow deceleration can dissipate a lot of energy. The high-speed skier who falls on a steep, open slope can dissipate his kinetic energy while sliding several hundred meters to a stop. Ski patrollers call this a yard sale because ski equipment and clothing tend to dissipate as well."
Unfortunately, I think our skiing days are over for the winter down here in the good ol' Commonwealth of Virginia, but they'll be alive and well for a while longer in Maine. Fear not, though- fishing season will be here before we know it!
(As a side note, there are two types of skiers. Those who have had a yard sale at some point, and liars.)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Duct Tape.
I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy the Wilderness First Responder course. It only took the textbook until page 33 to first mention applying duct tape to an ailing patient (in this case, to an open chest wound).
You're in good hands.
You're in good hands.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wilderness First Responder
While trying to sort out my First Aid re-certification with the Red Cross, I came across Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA), a company based in Scarborough, Maine, that offers a variety of training classes from First Aid through EMT and Advanced Life Support. WMA offers classes throughout the country, and I was lucky enough to find a Wilderness First Responder course about 20 minutes south of me in Virginia during the second week of March. I think it's a great idea to have a little more advanced medical training than standard First Aid offers. Injuries do happen; my parents had to deal with quite a few of them over the years. When it comes down to it, if anything does happen in or around Camp, I'm pretty much in a first responder position whether I'm trained or not.
My textbook came in the mail today, so I've started a little light reading. We've been warned that we'll face "grueling 9- to 11-hour days," and I can't wait. By the end of the class, we'll have learned how to respond to injuries and illness ranging from hypothermia to lightning strikes in an environment where standard rescue may be a long time coming.
The class certainly won't give me as deep a knowledge as an EMT course, but it'll give me a good understanding of the basics without needing to change careers, and it'll give me one more layer of confidence. I'll keep you posted on how the course goes!
My textbook came in the mail today, so I've started a little light reading. We've been warned that we'll face "grueling 9- to 11-hour days," and I can't wait. By the end of the class, we'll have learned how to respond to injuries and illness ranging from hypothermia to lightning strikes in an environment where standard rescue may be a long time coming.
The class certainly won't give me as deep a knowledge as an EMT course, but it'll give me a good understanding of the basics without needing to change careers, and it'll give me one more layer of confidence. I'll keep you posted on how the course goes!
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