Caltech Wilderness First Aid Course

sponsored by: Caltech Alpine Club,
Caltech Y, Moore-Hufstedler Fund



(photos © WMI)


Date and Location: Friday evening, 6-10pm, Oct. 13. Sat & Sun, 8am-5pm, Oct. 14-15. Held at the Caltech Y (map), on the Caltech campus.

Description: "If you plan to spend time in the backcountry, you need to be prepared." This is not a standard first aid class. This fast-paced course covers many important topics needed to handle first aid emergencies in the wilderness, where medical equipment is not readily available and rescue may be hours or days away. The course lasts a total of 20 hours over 2.5 days -- half of the time spent in classroom lecture, half spent in hands-on practice scenarios. The course will be taught by two instructors from the Wilderness Medical Institute, which is the world leader in wilderness first aid training. The course is only open to members of the Caltech community. The course fee is $20; however, all participants must also submit in advance an additional $60 deposit, which will be refunded after successful completion of the course. (Normally, participants must pay $150+ to take this course.) At most, there will be 30 participants.

Registration: So you want to sign up for the course -- here's what you do:

  • Complete this application form: pdf or doc. Send it to Mary Dunlop, MC 104-44, by Fri, Sept. 8. All applicants will be notified about the success of their application by Sept. 15.
  • If your application is successful, you will be invited to register for the course. To register, you must submit a completed waiver (waiver.pdf) and a check for $80 ($20 course fee + $60 deposit), made payable to the Caltech Alpine Club. Both must be sent to Sean Tulin, MC 103-33, by Wed Sept 27, or else your spot will be forfeit to someone else.
  • If your application is unsuccessful (remember we can only take 30 people), you will be put on a wait-list. If someone declines to register, then you may have the opportunity to sign up.

    Complete Rules and Regulations: rules.pdf

    Questions: See the FAQ page. If this doesn't answer your question contact Mary (mjdunlop at caltech) or Sean (tulin at caltech).

    More information: Here are some links:
    WMI of NOLS
    Caltech Alpine Club
    Caltech Y
    Moore-Hufstedler Fund

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