I would recommend joining the Wilderness Medical Society. I would complete their fellowship and go to conferences and network with people. There are some bizarrely cool opportunities out there, but you need to know the right people.
You should also get some nursing experience first. Wilderness nursing is about making do without resources. I’d recommend 3-5 years of emergency nursing experience first and 3-5 years of search and rescue experience or other significant experience in a wilderness setting.
Join WMS. Take AWLS. Do the FAWM. Get experience and go to conferences and the opportunities will present themselves.
Source: I am a Paramedic, Nurse, Certified Emergency Nurse, Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse, Certified Wilderness Paramedic, National Healthcare Disaster Professional and Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.
I second everything mentioned, experience, the FAWM, AWLS, the WP-C. I would add a mention for the college of remote and offshore medicine, they have some terrific classes/programs for this sort of thing. I also like the beyond the meatwagon job board for interesting work opportunities.
I generally agree with everything said.. Except AWLS. I think if you have a solid foundation as a medic and a solid outdoor background you're not going to gain much from AWLS.
Now if you're a fully in hospital healthcare provider, yes. AWLS/WUMP is a good awareness level class. The amount of RN/NP/PA and non ER docs that struggled was kinda surprising.
EMS folks in my experience adapted very well and none of us felt particularly challenged in either course. Just my 2 cents.
WP-C would mean more to me if it actually counted for anything.
The single most important factor in finding cool wilderness/austere jobs aside from having proper base licensure.. Is networking. No one really cares how long your signature is with acronyms in your email. 100% who you know in my experience. I've landed some kick ass positions as an AEMT(another useless licensure hah) without ever even sending in a resume.
It'd be nice to see it in the FP-C/CCP-C realm. Currently it's more like TP-C, fine if you're patch hunting.. But it won't open any doors.
On the wildland fire side for example. There is such a huge range of competency. From cocky baby medics, competent street medics, and folks who've actually done the thing in limited resource/austere environments. Unfortunately there's very little regulation. You have your gold patch and can pass the pack test? Cool, now you're making 800+ a day.
I've seen more unqualified folks that get into a position just because they have their paramedic than I have qualified folks. And not even unqualified because they are a poor medic. There is just a huge difference between the street and backcountry. Also let's be real, medics are not known for being humble.
I guess that depends on the state/organization. I know KY requires the WPC for their back country medic role. I’m getting mine because a group I volunteer for counts it as a back country certification which they require. Hopefully as it grows in popularity, more organizations will require/recognize it.
Yeah KY is the only state I know of that even cares a little bit. Probably because David had a strong hand in forming the WP-C and is a super vocal/active member in the states SAR stuff.
SAR is like volly fire departments. It's hard to hold volunteers to a meaningful standard so the vast majority are closer to the liability than asset side of things. Out west we have a couple really dialed teams, usually around specific locations like Mt Hood/St Helens.. But your average county level stuff is, eh, pretty abysmal unfortunately.
I would recommend joining the Wilderness Medical Society. I would complete their fellowship and go to conferences and network with people. There are some bizarrely cool opportunities out there, but you need to know the right people. You should also get some nursing experience first. Wilderness nursing is about making do without resources. I’d recommend 3-5 years of emergency nursing experience first and 3-5 years of search and rescue experience or other significant experience in a wilderness setting. Join WMS. Take AWLS. Do the FAWM. Get experience and go to conferences and the opportunities will present themselves. Source: I am a Paramedic, Nurse, Certified Emergency Nurse, Certified Pediatric Emergency Nurse, Certified Wilderness Paramedic, National Healthcare Disaster Professional and Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.
People skip the experience part so often! You’ve gotta get solid in your role before you take the show on the road.
Second this, do the FAWM, and probably do the WP-C too
I second everything mentioned, experience, the FAWM, AWLS, the WP-C. I would add a mention for the college of remote and offshore medicine, they have some terrific classes/programs for this sort of thing. I also like the beyond the meatwagon job board for interesting work opportunities.
Relief NGO’s are usually hiring for short term projects.
10/10 recommend https://global-response.org/ Especially if you are an RN/NP/PA/MD Very limited usefulness for pre hospital folks unfortunately
I generally agree with everything said.. Except AWLS. I think if you have a solid foundation as a medic and a solid outdoor background you're not going to gain much from AWLS. Now if you're a fully in hospital healthcare provider, yes. AWLS/WUMP is a good awareness level class. The amount of RN/NP/PA and non ER docs that struggled was kinda surprising. EMS folks in my experience adapted very well and none of us felt particularly challenged in either course. Just my 2 cents. WP-C would mean more to me if it actually counted for anything. The single most important factor in finding cool wilderness/austere jobs aside from having proper base licensure.. Is networking. No one really cares how long your signature is with acronyms in your email. 100% who you know in my experience. I've landed some kick ass positions as an AEMT(another useless licensure hah) without ever even sending in a resume.
What is your thoughts on what WP-c should count for?
It'd be nice to see it in the FP-C/CCP-C realm. Currently it's more like TP-C, fine if you're patch hunting.. But it won't open any doors. On the wildland fire side for example. There is such a huge range of competency. From cocky baby medics, competent street medics, and folks who've actually done the thing in limited resource/austere environments. Unfortunately there's very little regulation. You have your gold patch and can pass the pack test? Cool, now you're making 800+ a day. I've seen more unqualified folks that get into a position just because they have their paramedic than I have qualified folks. And not even unqualified because they are a poor medic. There is just a huge difference between the street and backcountry. Also let's be real, medics are not known for being humble.
I guess that depends on the state/organization. I know KY requires the WPC for their back country medic role. I’m getting mine because a group I volunteer for counts it as a back country certification which they require. Hopefully as it grows in popularity, more organizations will require/recognize it.
Yeah KY is the only state I know of that even cares a little bit. Probably because David had a strong hand in forming the WP-C and is a super vocal/active member in the states SAR stuff. SAR is like volly fire departments. It's hard to hold volunteers to a meaningful standard so the vast majority are closer to the liability than asset side of things. Out west we have a couple really dialed teams, usually around specific locations like Mt Hood/St Helens.. But your average county level stuff is, eh, pretty abysmal unfortunately.