WFR Certification for High-Performance SAR Teams

This specialty wilderness medicine course is designed specifically for SAR technicians who are deployed as first responders on SAR and mountain rescue teams. Our unique course content goes well beyond the standard WFR curriculum, to enhance SAR technicians' ability to provide wilderness rescue medicine in high-pressure situations.

SARMED Course Details

30 hours of self-paced online learning followed by 5 field days

  • Self-Paced Hybrid Content

    The 30 hours of online content is self-paced, allowing users the freedom to study the material at their own pace. The hybrid material needs to be completed before attending the field session.

  • 5 Field Days

    The field days consist of skill stations, scenarios, and simulation-based training that emphasizes critical thinking, teamwork, & leadership skills when lives are at stake.

  • Certifications Awarded

    Wilderness First Responder, CPR, Anaphylaxis & Epinephrine Administration, and a Stop the Bleed Certification

What you'll learn

  • MEDICINE

    Rescuers will be taught the most recent wilderness medicine protocols and evidence-based medicine from the most updated research from the Wilderness Medical Society, Prehospital Life Support, Denver Metro protocols and the International Commission on Alpine Rescue.

  • RESCUE

    Enhance your SAR patient packaging skills and become confident using Skeds, Stokes litters, Vacuum mattresses, Foxtrots, Scoops, and learn how the pro's safely load and evacuate patients. Additionally, practice building improvised litters from tarps, ropes, backpacks, & other common outdoor equipment.

  • PERFORM UNDER PRESSURE

    Become a honed wilderness rescuer who is confident and competent to lead & manage any wilderness emergency. Learn the tenets of wilderness leadership & teamwork that the special forces and elite mission critical teams utilize when every second counts.

SARMED Lead Instructor

Brian Taylor, BA, NREMT-P, WEMT

Brian is a 20-year veteran with the Summit County Rescue Group and has worked as a paramedic for SAR, ambulances, and mountain clinics for 15 years. In addition, Brian has been teaching wilderness medicine for almost 30 years. Brian is the director of Colorado Mountain College’s Wilderness EMS Certification program. Brian has instructed private industries and professional rescue teams, including the 10th Mountain Army Division, Arapahoe & Vail Ski Patrol, Colorado Rapid Avalanche Deployment & SAR teams from Vail, Summit County, Alamosa Teller & Rio Grande.
SARMED Lead Instructor

SARMED Course Pricing

Estimated course pricing

  • COURSE PRICE

    $800/student. A minimum of 6 students is needed to hold a course. The typical class size is 8-12 students.

  • COURSE BOOKS

    The course cost includes two years of access to the online e-manual, a 232-page color, weatherproof Wilderness Rescue Medicine Field Manual, and two 50-page patient care notebooks.

  • COURSE VENUE

    Additional travel and lodging fees may apply depending on the course location and if the field days are conducted over a five-day block or held over two weekends. Call or email for details.

Course curriculum

Click on chapter titles for chapter contents and to view free previews.

  • 1
    Chapter 1: Introduction to Wilderness First Responder Course
  • 2
    Chapter 2: Introduction to Wilderness Medicine
  • 3
    Chapter 3: Critical Body Systems Overview
  • 4
    Chapter 4: Basic Life Support Skills
  • 5
    Chapter 5: Patient Assessment
  • 6
    Chapter 6: Traumatic Injuries
  • 7
    Chapter 7: Medical Emergencies
  • 8
    Chapter 8: Environmental Emergencies
  • 9
    Chapter 9: Wilderness Pharmacology
  • 10
    Chapter 10: Wilderness Evacuation
  • 11
    Anatomy Diagrams
  • 12
    Additional Resources: (no need to memorize, no testing on these)
  • Course Introduction FREE PREVIEW How to use The Wild Guide Thinkific E-Manual for all courses WFR 5 day Field Itinerary for Initial WFR training WFR Refresher (hybrid + 2 field days) Course Introduction Warning!
  • WEMS Introduction, Med/legal & Wilderness Protocols Good Samaritan Law Colorado Good Samaritan Law for administration of Epinephrine Good Samaritan Epinephrine Case Scenario Medical Legal & wilderness protocol quiz
  • A & P Overview Cardiovascular System Overview Respiratory System Overview: Anatomy & Physiology Central and Peripheral Nervous System Overview Shock FREE PREVIEW A & P Quiz Skeleton Review
  • CPR Overview FREE PREVIEW CPR CPR in wilderness or remote environments Critical Airway Skills Video Clip FREE PREVIEW Airway Management FREE PREVIEW Oxygen Administration Basic Life Support Quiz Patient needs suction video
  • Taylor Tip! Patient Assessment: What's really important! Leadership, Teamwork & the Path to Victory: Lessons from Extreme Ownership Primary Assessment Video FREE PREVIEW Patient Assessment Pediatric Assessment Patient Assessment Quiz SOAP NOTE SCENARIO: Snowmobiling Leadville, CO Soap Note Scenario: Rafting the Gauley SOAP NOTE Scenario: Backpacking in Utah
  • Taylor Tip: Shock, what really matters! Soft Tissue Injuries: General Assessment & Treatment Bleeding Control Details: Pressure Bandages, Tourniquets & Wound Packing FREE PREVIEW Wilderness Wound Management: Prolonged Wound Care Burns Case Scenario: Field Burn Impaled Objects Wilderness wound management quiz Scenario: Wilderness Wounds Orthopedic Management & Treatment Overview FREE PREVIEW Athletic Injuries: Sprains & Strains Fractures & Dislocations Splinting Orthopedic, Athletic Injury & Splinting Quiz Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) TBI & SCI Quiz Chest Injuries Abdominal Injuries Pelvic Injuries Chest & Abdominal Quiz
  • Cardiac Emergencies (heart attacks) FREE PREVIEW Taylor Tip: Heart attacks and aspirin Cardiac quiz FREE PREVIEW Asthma Anaphylaxis Allergies & Anaphylaxis Quiz Case Scenario: Bee Sting Pulmonary Edema Pulmonary Embolism & Deep Veinous Thrombosis Respiratory Emergencies Quiz Altered Mental Status Strokes American Stroke Association Infograms Seizures Diabetes Altered Mental Status Quiz Acute Abdominal Pain Acute Abdominal Pain Quiz Gender Specific Medical Emergencies
  • Altitude Emergencies Altitude Emergencies Quiz Lightning Emergencies FREE PREVIEW Lightning Quiz Hypothermia Frostbite Frostbite Scenario Cold emergencies quiz Dehydration Heat Emergencies Heat Emergencies Quiz Water Purification Drowning Animal Bites & Stings Bites and stings quiz Case Scenario: Snakebite! Case Scenario: Sick Camper Travel Medicine & Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea Case Study: GI Upset in Mexico Expedition & Travel Medicine Avalanche Medicine Case Scenario: Avalanche! Diving Emergencies Marine Bites and Stings
  • First Aid Kits Wilderness Pharmacology
  • Patient Packaging Wilderness Evacuation Guidelines Search and Rescue Fundamentals
  • Anatomy Diagrams National Estimates of Outdoor Recreational Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments, United States, 2004–2005 FREE PREVIEW
  • ParkmedicProtocol Denver Metro protocols Epidemiology in Wilderness Medicine A Review of Emergency Medical Services Events in US National Parks From 2007 to 2011

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