There is also the 56hr (iirc) 'First Responder' level of training which sits between the FA/CPR and EMT-B levels.

Almost any formal emergency medical training is better than none, in my opinion. How much training, and which class to take depends on your situation, time, and budget.

Regarding EMT training, keep in mind that it is primarily oriented towards urban settings where the patient will be quickly transported to a hospital. In my opinion, a better option for survival situations is one of the "Wilderness" oriented classes. The reason being that these classes assume you might not be able to reach definitive care for many hours or days. They also stress improvisation, how to make do with what you have (not what might be found in a well equipped ambulance or clinic). Finally (and very important in my opinion) they usually give some guidelines about when to seek rapid evacuation, and when you might consider postponing a call for a helicopter (until the weather improves or until daylight, etc etc).

Within this context there are several options. There are various Wilderness First Aid classes that run about 16 hours, which are OK. A better choice if you can manage it would be a Wilderness First Responder (aka "WFR" or "woofer"). These run about 70-80 hours and cost $500-$600. Two good outfits offering excellent WFR classes that I can vouch for from personal experience are Wilderness Medical Associates ( http://www.wildmed.com/ )and WMI of NOLS ( http://www.nols.edu/wmi/ ). They offer classes in various regions of the country.

I think that most people that have taken the time to find a site like ETS, and even more so those dedicated enough to want to discuss these topics view the topic of "First Aid" as something more than what it really is.

First Aid can be expanded to include anything and everything done to care for a patient prior to that patient reaching and receiving the definitive care for their medical emergency. Sometimes that definitive care is simply wound cleaning and bandaging and other times it is a trauma surgeon. By this definition, First Aid is only as simple or complicated as the situation presented. This definition is where I believe many members of this Forum focus is. Most, if not all, understand that they can never be prepared for every medical emergency but they want to be as prepared as they can be within reasonable preparation time and financial limits.

The definition of First Aid in the previous paragraph does not fit what the common definition of First Aid is today. This second definition of First Aid can be best summed up as the minimum amount of training to save savable lives. In essence, provide for the ABCs (airway, breathing and circulation). This is why many basic first aid courses are heavy in CPR and add bleeding control, basic shock management, a few other topics and that is about it. I also believe that this is the most appropriate way to teach basic first aid and I think that every adult should take a basic first aid course. I also think that a basic first aid course is inadequate from a survival/preparedness point of view if you every plan on leaving urbania.

Wilderness First Aid (WFA) would be a much better basic course. If you take a WFA course from an organization like NOLS or Wilderness Medical Associates (WMA) you will really be attending an entry level EMS course.



These courses will probably be all that most need with some added research on specific topics of interest. Those that are looking for more should look into the First Responder Level courses like MarkO mentioned. I would also recommend NOLS and WMA for their Wilderness First Responder courses. The reality is that First Responder curriculum covers almost all the most important parts of the Basic EMT curriculum. This varies from state to state of course, but if you aren’t going to work or volunteer as an EMS provider a first responder level class will be more than adequate.

One last thing about CPR, I have heard a lot of comments about the new simpler CPR (positive and negative). I have been watching AHA catch up to the CPR being done in various regions by both EMS and ED and AHA is taking baby steps… there are more changes coming. So much of what we did for cardiac arrest patients was based off of theory with little to no supporting science for so long. In the past 5-10 years that has changed… and the guidelines for CPR reflect that. Granted some of those studies have proven some of the theories. In other cases the science has proven that some of those concepts were not quite right or completely wrong all together. While the experts are arguing what most of this means, there has been one irrefutable concept that has come out of all of this: effective, continuous chest compressions with limited interruption works… it has even been proven to make AEDs more effective if used after a few minutes of effective compressions.

Opps, I guess my response was a longer winded repeat of yours.
You response wasn't up when I started mine... dang distraction.

I've got EMT-I('85) and WEMT (via SOLO), plus some years working on the ambulance for a large 911-only system.

I agree with Alan that the ideal course path would be wilderness based. But there is a practical economic factor that might sway that decision for you. In some locales the cost for a wilderness based class can be very high in both time and money; travel and vacation time are often required. Meanwhile, the state or your employer may subsidize First Responder or EMT-Basic training at a local college where you can do the classroom work in the evenings. The state paid about 80% of the cost for my EMT-Basic and EMT-Intermediate training, and I took the classes at night.

Ride-alongs are usually required but the number of them is very minimal for EMT-Basic, and you are just riding along, you are not committing to any ongoing service in EMS.

It still amazes me that some training programs don't arrange vehiculars (ride-a-longs) or clinicals for their students. I don't know of a training program in Arizona that requires students to arrange their own, at least at the Basic Level. EMT basic classes have gotten expensive, up to the $700-800 range in AZ.

Another good thing about EMT student ride-alongs (as opposed to "interested citizen" rides) is that you get to actually work with the patient and do things. Our system sponsored "interested citizen" rides but the rider was not allowed to do or touch anything. As an EMT student if you show the crew that you are motivated and willing to jump in with both feet, you'd be amazed at what a confident paramedic will let you do (with full supervision, of course).

We expect our student ride-a-longs to be involved. It is a waste of both their time and ours if they aren't.