CURRICULUM

This course is created for people whose work involves the outdoors, such as guides of adventure programs, leaders of treks and excursions, staff responsible for high-risk activities (rock climbing, rafting, mountaineering, multi-week expeditions of all kinds, etc.), and travelers who enjoy visiting remote places that want to know more about wilderness medicine.

This training provides an understanding of how wilderness medicine works in order to be able to properly and effectively manage emergencies. In this way, these experiences promote knowledge of the potential problems that may arise in the design and execution of outdoor programs to prevent them, but, at the same time, to have the necessary skills for evaluation and treatment in case of having to react to them.

We are never exempt from risks in our daily activities, but these could be much more common while running outdoor experiences and activities, in which resources and reaction facilities become more limited. However, knowing these risks allows us to manage them and prevent undesired situations from occurring. Likewise, proper training makes us professionals when we have to deal with emergencies, being able to provide help when it is most needed.

• An understanding of wilderness medicine is fundamental to the proper management, evaluation, and risk prevention of outdoor programs.

• It focuses on providing practical instructions that students can understand, remember and apply. The digital and printed manual provides an invaluable resource for use during and after the course by students.

• A self-developed mechanism of injury (MOI) approach to diagnosis differentiation is used to help students understand the patient's signs and symptoms so that they can reach a better understanding of the diagnosis. Field evaluation consists of being able to differentiate between those injuries and diseases that can be treated correctly in the field from those that require evacuation, which may be urgent or non-urgent.

• The curriculum is based on the practice guidelines published by the Wilderness Medical Society, publications in which the WMTC participates.

• It is understood that outdoor program leaders should be trained by professional outdoor expedition leaders with medical training and field experience in contrast to health professionals with little or no experience leading outdoor programs.