WEMSI First Responder

I have been a bit lax with the old blog of late. but I thought this was worth mentioning. Last week I took (and passed) the WEMSI First Repsonder course which takes place at Glenmore Lodge every year. The First Responder course is currently run in the states and Ireland as well as at the Lodge. It's an advanced 'first aid' certificate for leaders working in remote environments around the world. The course is designed to prepare you for protracted care of casulaties where help is far away or totally unavailable. We covered a really broad range of topics from puncture wounds and anaphylaxia to tropical diseases and altitude sickness. In all I think we had about 26 casualty scenarios outside and then a mass casualty scenario for all 20 of us to deal with set in a 'gorge' on the hill to the east of the Ciste car park. It was great to have actually done all this stuff - for example one scenario involved us carrying a drowned paddler out of a river and resuscitating him on the bank. Our mass scenario also involved a stretcher carry which was great to practice. I feel so much more repared for any mis haps that might occur on expedition. I can't recommend the course highly enough.