Introduction
Here are a few pics from my five day adventure in wilderness medicine training called WUMP (Wilderness Upgrade for Medical Professionals) which took place at the Flagstaff Field Institute in Flagstaff Arizona from 7-11 March 2008. This was a course taught in partnership with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Taught by two amazing instructors, Pete Walka MS, NREMT-P, WEMT and Marc Yeston BS, NREMT-P, WEMT, we were a class of about thirty people from all over the country, most of us paramedics and EMTs but also PAs, NPs, and a couple of MDs like myself. Some of my colleagues were smoke jumping firefighters in between jobs! - everyone doing really interesting work within the healthcare infrastructure and in settings adjacent to it, shall we say. I learned so much with this group and these amazing teachers, - these images only begin to convey the variety of learning experiences I had. See the website of the Flagstaff Field Institute for more images of injuries and scenarios, information about wilderness medicine training, and all kinds of other great stuff. I would recommend this experience to anyone looking to learn wilderness medicine, and hey, Flagstaff is one hell of a great town besides!
