The new American Red Cross
Wilderness and Remote First Aid (WRFA) course is coming
this fall.
As members of the Seattle First Aid
committee, we have taken on a challenging task this
year.
The club and First Aid
community have been undergoing large-scale changes,
which has made our task this year even more challenging.
In response to the
challenges, we are implementing major changes to the
First Aid program. The purpose of this message is to
inform you of these changes – and to ask for your
participation in carrying the torch forward.
Simultaneous with these
events, the American Red Cross is launching a new
nationwide 16-hour course named Wilderness & Remote
First Aid (WRFA).
Our chosen course of action is to cross over to the ARC
WRFA program, and to offer ARC WRFA and include
additional Scenario Practice to maintain a national
standardized course roughly equivalent to MOFA, but with
a lesser time requirement for both instructors and
students.
Why we are making this change
In
addition to the background described above, we have
heard repeatedly from both the instructor community and
from MOFA students, that the MOFA courses are simply too
long of a time commitment.
The ARC WRFA course offers
an opportunity to significantly reduce both the in-class
time and the out-of-class time commitment for both
instructors and students.
Additionally, making the
change to ARC WRFA will allow us to recruit from a
broader instructor pool outside of the MOFA and
Mountaineers communities.
It will also allow us to
utilize the local chapter of the American Red Cross to
supplement the Mountaineers program until sufficient
numbers of Mountaineer WRFA instructors are
trained/qualified.
Here is a short description of
changes with the WRFA course:
-
A current CPR certificate is a
pre-requisite (CPR certification within one year of
taking WRFA). The MOFA program did not require CPR.
-
Class time of ~18 hours, usually
spread out over a weekend, or over 4-5 weekdays.
The MOFA program required 24 hours.
-
Format continues to be lecture,
discussion, and practical scenarios. The course will
add “real” scenarios using very specific, clear and
realistic back-country
situations.
No real change there, but better lecture
materials.
-
A slightly different First Aid
Report Form and more terminology oriented toward
Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness EMT format
is used in lieu of the familiar MOFA First Aid
Report Form.
-
No videos are used.
WRFA Course Information
WRFA topics taught in the class.
WRFA Instructor Information
Information on transitioning to WRFA
First Aid Committee
Do you have a couple of hours a month
to spare? The Seattle First Aid Committee needs
assistance with running the WRFA program. Some
items can be done at odd hours and at home. The
committee will supply materials and clear instructions.
We provide training to 400 students per year and help make
the outdoors a safer place. Contact
Sue Johnson at <yvondasjohnson@gmail.com>
for more details.
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