31/08/2026
I just received this story from a past student of mine. I’m grateful to be doing this work and helping people feel more prepared when they are outside adventuring. 🫶⤵️
In spring of 2025, I took your wilderness first aid course. That August, I went on my annual 8 day backpacking trip with the knowledge learned and simple FA kit.
On day three, after transversing a cliff, and navigating a slippery drainage with downfall and multiple creek crossings, I reached the bottom and stepped into the creek one last time onto mossy rocks, my feet went out from under me, and on landing, my hand wedged between rocks while my body continued falling.
It was evident that my wrist was broken by the immediate swelling and angle of the hand. After assessing the situation while soaking my hand in the stream, I saw a stick and after breaking it in two was the perfect form to use as a splint with a nice curve at the end to support my hand.
I secured the the splint and remembered more padding is better so I was able to wrap the unit in my puffy with a multipurpose tourniquet/strap and used my bear spray harness as a sling, securing it to my chest with additional medical wrap.
My friends studied the map and we knew I could not navigate the way we came nor continue the way we were going so we were able to contact S and R over my IPhone to get a plan. There was a nearby trail cutting across to the highway and it was determined that I would start hiking the 9 miles, 2500 ft elevation gain out and meet SR as they would hike in.
My friends took turns carrying my backpack and we met SR after about 7 miles where my friends headed back and SR resplinted my arm and escorted me to the highway and 30 miles to the hospital. It took 12 hours for all this to play out, an hour or 2 were just coordinating with SR through relays and questions. They set my arm at the hospital and I drove back to PC the next morning and had surgery with plate installed the next day.
All this to say, I used the training from your class to quickly and confidently stabilize the injury and successfully get to medical attention with a good outcome.
Thanks for putting these classes on!
