First Aid, Wilderness

If you want to learn how to protect yourself from wilderness hazards and do first aid outdoors, these courses are for you. We use vivid slides and an interactive teaching style to introduce the concepts, then train you to do the skills and improvise care with whatever you carry for your outdoor trips. Topics include:

Saturday & Sunday May 16-17, 2009: 8:30 - 5, at Sierra Club Office, 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley
2 options: Basic Wilderness First Aid (Saturday only)
OR Wilderness First Aid (Saturday and Sunday)

These courses are sponsored by the Activities Committee of the Sierra Club (S.F. Bay Chapter), and meet the first aid requirements for most Sierra Club outings leaders. Those who do Saturday only will be certified in Basic wilderness First Aid. Those who do both days will learn more advanced skills, do role-playing scenarios, and be certified in Wilderness First Aid. Non-members can register if we have space, though they will not be eligible for the Sierra Club discount, OR they can join the Sierra Club and then register as members.

Registration for outings leaders & information about joining the Sierra Club
Contact Joanne Drabek, Email: joanne@sfbaysc.org; Phone: (510) 848-0800, ext. 315.
To register as an outings leader, you must mail Joanne a $30 deposit check payable to "Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter" This check will be returned to you in class if you show up, but cashed if you do not show up. If you also want to do the Sunday class, you pay the instructor $30 in class.

Registration for Sierra Club members and non-members
Email the instructor, Steve Donelan, to make a reservation: donelan@mindspring.com. Include your Sierra Club membership number and whether you are registering for Saturday only or Saturday and Sunday. Be prepared to pay the course fee to the instructor in class, which includes a copy of Steve's comprehensive textbook, Wilderness Emergency Care, and national certification from the American Safety & Health Institute, valid 3 years. Cost (to Sierra Club members): $50 for the one-day class or $80 for the two-day class. For non-members, cost is $60 for Saturday only, $100 for Saturday and Sunday.

Repeat Sunday class session for free
Graduates of Steve's 2-day WFA class may participate in future Sunday classes for the SF Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club at no cost, so long as their WFA certifications are current. Just email him in advance, and include the date when you did the class.

Registration
Loma Prieta Chapter members contact and pay Bruce Rienzo: bruce@oatc.com
Members of other chapters contact Steve Donelan: steve@wildernessemergencycare.com, and pay Steve in class.

Sierra Club Wilderness First Aid: San Diego
Saturday & Sunday to be scheduled 2009
Contact Skip Forsht: silverrfox@yahoo.com. Sierra Club members only.

Piedmont Basic Wilderness First Aid classes
We teach an intensive one-day class ( 8:30 am to 5 pm) on Saturday at the Piedmont Adult School.

Certification: Those who complete the above course and buy the textbook from the instructor in class ($20) receive American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI) certifications valid for 3 years. You may, however, take the class without buying the textbook (though you will not receive a certification).

Wilderness First Aid for Scout Councils
WFA class for the Silverado Scout Council: To be scheduled. Scout leaders and Scouts who are interested should contact Keith Gale: keith_gale@hotmail.com.

Need CPR?
I teach CPR at, and recommend, the San Francisco Paramedic Association. We teach the American Heart Association courses, based on the new standards and guidelines, and they are much more effective than the old courses (or the courses of our competitors). You now practice the skills, step by step, right along with the video, then put it all together as we coach you. No lectures. Instructors are experienced EMT's and paramedics, so they know and care about what they are teaching and are up-to-date on the science.

Location: A few blocks from the Montgomery Street BART station.
Website: www.sfparamedics.org
Phone: (415) 543-1161

Instructor
Steve Donelan is the national chairman of the American Safety & Health Institute's Wilderness Emergency Care program, which he developed, and author of the textbook. He has been designing and teaching courses on wilderness and pre-hospital emergency care since 1983. For the National Ski Patrol, he teaches Outdoor Emergency Care, trains instructors, and is a peer reviewer of the textbook. For the Wilderness Medical Society, he is a section editor of their journal, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, writing and editing articles on wilderness medicine education. He is also a contributor and peer reviewer of their Practice Guidelines for Wilderness Emergency Care, which is a consensus of the guidelines and standards. Steve also edits and writes for the San Francisco Paramedic Association's instructor newsletter, Protocall. He has published many articles on emergency care and how to teach it.