Expedition First Aid
Advanced First Aid Training for Expedition Leaders and Explorers
These advanced 4 day expedition first aid courses are aimed at training outdoor professionals and travellers who operate overseas in wilderness environments that are far from help.
We have approached this course with our own vast experience of leading overseas expeditions knowing what situations you are likely to face and with what kit you are likely to be carrying. To that end the course is designed for first-aiders, but because you may find yourself in some pretty remote places with few resources readily to hand, with experienced medics and trainers leading this course we go beyond the realms of traditional first aid. We aim to give delegates on this course the skills and the confidence to face a whole host of situations from managing trauma to the very common problems of an upset stomach.
Not the right course? Try looking at our 2 day Outdoor First Aid courses.

Expedition First Aid (4 days) – course overview
Day 1
Vital Signs 1 – basic information gathering
The accident procedure – primary and secondary surveys
Airway management
CPR – urban / drowning casualties
Choking
Shock management:
- steristrips
- haemostatic dressings
- tourniquets
Day 2
Head and spine injuries
Chest injuries
Practical sessions:
moving / lifting / straightening an injured casualty
helmet removal
fracture & dislocation management
the broken leg – use of improvised traction device
Pain management considerations
Soft tissue injuries
Casualty monitoring and note taking
Practical outdoor scenarios
Day 3
Diagnosis – how to take a patient history
Practical sessions:
– history taking
– Pain management
Common medical conditions – diarrhoea and issue of antibiotics
Fever – including malaria
Asthma, diabetes, epilepsy/seizures
heat illness
Anaphylactic shock and use of Epipen/Anapen
abdominal problems (appendicitis, hernias, testicular problems)
snake bites
Rescue & related skills
- Organising a casualty evacuation
- Working with helicopters
- Radios, communications
- Improvised rescue & stretchers
- Jungle lost procedures & search & rescue
- Medical scenario & rescue exercise
Day 4
High and cold environments
• altitude sickness – medication & portable altitude chambers
• Hypothermia, frostbite and immersion
Expedition medical planning
- Immunisations/antimalarials
- Pre-existing medical cases – group work
- Legal issues
Outdoor practical scenarios
Written exam
Debrief
Price: £520
Course fee includes first aid manual and first aid certificate valid for three years.
Package
- Interactive hands on practical training indoors and out
- Use of recommended first aid kit
- Easy to follow individual course booklet
- An accredited, recognised Advanced Outdoor First Aid certificate valid for 3 years
Location
- Peak District National Park / Sheffield
Course Leaders
This course will be led by Will Legon and Dr Joe Rowles.
Will has led student expeditions and treks for adults to all corners of the globe from South America to Mongolia and has been teaching Outdoor First Aid since 2010.
Joe is an Emergency Medicine doctor and former Special Forces soldier with an interest in pre-hospital, remote and expedition medicine. He is also hugely passionate about sharing what he knows!
Joe holds a Master’s degree in Austere and Military Trauma Science, Diploma in Immediate Care, is a faculty member for the Diploma in Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine and an Honorary Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Exeter where he is a module lead for the MSc in Extreme Medicine. He co-authored the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh guidelines for medical provision for wilderness medicine and is currently medical director for Survivor USA, the world’s largest reality television show.
Contact us for dates of upcoming courses
Guidelines for Medical Provision in the Wilderness Setting: This document was published in December 2015 in the Journal of Extreme Physiology and Medicine and is now available free online.
Further Reading
- Recommended first aid kit for working & playing in the outdoors
- Outdoor First Aid – Five items of essential first aid kit for the outdoors
- What to do in an Emergency Outdoors
- One Item Of First Aid Kit: Always Needed: The Least Appreciated
- First Aid Kit for Overseas Treks
- Dealing With Mass Casualties – Triage First Aid
- Save a Life With a Slice of Flapjack – Diabetes
- Expedition First Aid – Diarrhoeal illness
- Expedition First Aid – Five things to look for in a local hospital
- Expedition and outdoor first aid – heat exhaustion
- Expedition First Aid – Hyponatraemia
- Air Rescue Capabilities in the UK