911 in da woods

If we are ever in the woods together, rest assure. I can save you!!! I may not be able to find my way out of the woods, but I can save you …

This is thanks to completing a Wilderness First Aid class this weekend.

Wilderness First Aid is quite different from regular First Aid. If someone dislocates their shoulder in a grocery store (hey, it could happen), you call 911. If it happens in the wilderness, you reduce the dislocation and hopefully pop it back into place.

J didn’t need the course, but our health insurance paid for it and he wanted to keep me company. He has taken some kind of variation of wilderness first aid several times before, but it’s always good to take a refresher.

I, on the other hand, needed the course desperately. I always take those quizzes in the magazines testing your wilderness skills in different predicaments and I usually fail. And although I ALWAYS feel safe when I’m with J, what’s going to happen when he needs my help!?!?!

So we spent 16 hours this weekend in the REI classroom and outside in the single-digit temps and snow playing out wilderness rescue scenarios (hence the bruise above; the scenarios were made as real as possible). My brain is just about ready to explode with all the new knowledge, but I do feel very confident.

The thermometer read -10.9 degrees Sunday night. POST EDIT – Ignore the indoor temp … it sits right by the window and doesn’t read right, so it was more like 60 degrees in the house.

Of course every time the instructors asked the class a question, J turned to me and whispered the answer. Fine, he is a wilderness genius. But, I believe this is the worst ankle taping job (it was part of our class) I’ve ever seen!