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

Read our booking conditions here

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.

I attended a 2-day Outdoor First Aid course run by Will4Adventure. It was excellent! Lizzy who ran the course was extremely professional, yet the tone was fun and engaging despite it being two long days of learning. The language was inclusive and I was glad that the course considered administering first aid to people of different skin tones and body abilities (for example, checking the lips for paleness rather than the face, and performing the Heimlich manoeuvre on people in wheelchairs or pregnant people). Overall 10/10 would definitely recommend

Dave Tryner

20/02/2023

Great course with an informative and super instructor. Geared up for outdoor incidents and just what I needed. Thanks

Anthony Naylor

16/02/2023

I did the outdoor first aid course in February 2023 at Awesome Walls in Sheffield and the content and advice he gave was supremely useful to me making me feel confident with first aid. Thanks!

Stephen Wilson

13/02/2023

really enjoyable course both will and hannes are really good with how they get across the information and it really suited my learning style both happy to answer any questions you might have and both really helpful and are both very knowledgeable

Paula Bullock

11/02/2023

I have been on quite a few of these over the years. I honestly thought that Will's course was the best I've ever done. He got the pitch level just right and treated everyone who attended with equal respect.

Joe Hepworth-Adcock

10/02/2023

I attended a 16 Hour Outdoor First Aid course ran by Will. Very knowledgeable and practical leader which made the course interesting and engaging. The course was co-led by Hannes who had a positive impact on the delivery. I left feeling very secure in my knowledge of outdoor first aid.

Chris Elfleet

09/02/2023

one of the better outdoor first aid courses I have been on, very well pitched for the level of things that are needed. Very practical information and practice of the information in realistic scenarios.

Trevor Baker

06/02/2023

A perfect course for hiking. It covers a wide range of illness and injury, with plenty of hands on exercises. Stuart's lively delivery held your attention abd embedded th3 content on your mind. Five hours after completing the course I was confident doing CPR in a real life Blue light emergency. I wasn't expecting that.

Philip Plume

01/02/2023

What a great course. Will was engaging and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this course. It was a refresher for me and I definitely learned something new.