Who's been through one and what's it like. We're thinking about going through the course next year and was just looking for feedback on it.
I've been through two full Wilderness Medicine Institute's, WFR classes and two WFR re-cert's, over the last 10-15 years.. They're a blast !! I can't say enough good things about them.. I learned a lot in the short duration of the classes.. I also made a lot of cool connections with folks who worked in all sorts of Outdoor Professions.. On and off , for about 10 years, I guided rock climbing and backpacking trips, as well as running(building/maintaining) high ropes courses..
I took mine with Solo. I learned a lot. A big difference than what most people learn with the Red Cross First responder training. What really makes it fun is that dialing 911 is not a option. Everything relies on you and your group. Or just you. Since I have never been to a Ditch Medicine course I can't say what the difference between the two are.
If Hugh is teaching any basics at all, it'll probably be mostly review other than learning compact and primitive equipment. The old Thomas half rings were a few days before my time, but you can make something similar for femur fractures. The knowledge is very different from a standard EMS course!
Mine was good for 3 years and the course was a 60 or 70 hour course. I was there for seven long days.
I helped to implement some of this training years ago when I was attempting to establish a formalized plan for AWLS. I don't have any specific recommendations currently since I am not heavily involved. With you, the key is always time management. You should be familiar with CPR or you might as well pack up your gear and sit on the couch. So many of these courses use "filler" instead of "hands on" training. The last thing that you want to do is spend a week "in the woods" with 1-2 days of that sitting in a classroom doing CPR training. Do you have a specific course in mind? Besides the certification, the stuff that Hugh does at the farm far exceeds the majority of the training you will get and your enjoyment will be contingent on the quality of instruction. Recerts are pricey. I have about two binders worth of training that has lapsed because of overlap and recertification costs. At one time I had a certificate for about anything you can think of from armorer to basket weaving. I was in a NF recently on a trip to Baltimore and recognized the surroundings and finally realized that I had spent a week there for training around 2000. The take home, I guess, is the cert will be beneficial for your business but not sure how much it will benefit you besides something else you will need to keep current. My experiences through WMI training have always been positive. This is an excellent curriculum: http://www.nols.edu/wmi/pdf/wfr-student-schedule.pdf
My WFA training was with WMI my WFR with Solo. Both had lots of hands on but my only negative was with WMI and how they actually passed and certified a few in the class that didn't pass the written. Both are probably the top ones but Solo does run a cheaper price. As for the re-certs I'm not sure if it is still 2-3 days or laws made it a full course for a re-cert.
Thanks. Info like this is very important to know. I understand that folks can have some issues with written exams and I am fine with remediation if I detect that a knowledgeable student is unraveling but cert with failure is unacceptable. I have seen this before in environments where I did not control P/F. Everybody should not get a trophy.