Wilderness First Responder with Matthew Angus and Isabel Chavez– G25110204
A wilderness first responder is trained to deal with life threatening situations that may be encountered in the wilderness. The training is principally geared towards lay providers, with little to no actual medical experience, though they are often already professionals in other aspects of the outdoors industry, like park rangers, climbing instructors, and guides. Wilderness first responder training courses focus on teaching the students to assess a situation, improvise solutions using available resources to stabilize the patient, and identify the best way to get the patient to definitive medical treatment. Students will learn a systematic approach to assessing patients with various injuries and illnesses. Topics covered include:
- basic life support
- responding to results of physical trauma:
- management of signs and symptoms of circulatory shock
- management of soft tissue injury such as a burn or wound
- prevention and/or treatment of blood-borne pathogens
- treatment of infectious diseases
- management of bone and joint injuries such as fractures, sprains, strains and dislocations
- management of suspected head and or spinal injury
- responding to the onset of sudden illness
- transport/evacuation planning and implementation.
This course consists of a 5-day hands on AND 24-30 hours of online work.
Instructors
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Isabel ChavezIsabel Chavez is a born and raised New Mexican. She spent her youth exploring Ghost Ranch, led Youth Programming during College Staff and is now an Experience Expert with the Programs and Events department. She was also recently appointed as the Ghost Ranch Safety Coordinator.
Isabel holds certificates in CPR, Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder and Nonviolent Crisis Intervention. Her background is in Social Work and she holds a deep passion for helping others, especially through crisis and emergency situations.
In her free time, you can find her slowly reading science non-fiction, cuddling with her two dogs, seeking opportunities for creativity and basking in the outdoors.
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Matthew AngusMatthew (he/him) is a Primary Educator for Base Medical. Although born in the midwestern flats of Illinois, he has called the San Juan mountains home for the last 6 years in Durango, Colorado. Matthew is a passionate and service-oriented individual, always striving to best support his community in health/wellness and outdoor pursuits. He graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (Go Dawgs!) in 2017 but obtained his EMT license in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. His medical experience began with tending to the health needs of troubled youth as a field EMT for a wilderness therapy guiding program based in the Southwest. It was during this time that Matthew began developing skills of compassionate patient care and practicing medicine in the austere environment where he and the patients he worked for were typically 4 to 5 hours away from definitive care. Matthew now uses his EMT skills at a local clinic and SAR team in the area and has big goals to obtain advanced medical training and search and rescue skills
Matthew also cares deeply for the outdoor classroom and education experience, valuing highly the reciprocal learning process that can happen between peers and mentors. He believes in meeting students and peers exactly where they’re at to best support everyone’s learning and growth and creating a learning space that centers on inclusion, challenge, and team building. When not working, Matthew is likely pushing his limits by climbing, backpacking, or trail running, so he can get further into the mountains or desert he so greatly loves.