About Us

In 2014, Coast Wilderness Medical Training was founded on the idea that anyone venturing into our beautiful wilderness areas should have the knowledge and confidence they need to make informed decisions should unexpected emergencies arise. Since then, we have prided ourselves in providing the absolute finest Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Professional Responder courses in BC’s lower mainland, and in communities throughout Western Canada. Our instructing philosophy - based on student feedback and real world experiences - avoids rote ‘see this, do that’ training, focusing instead on why things happen in the sick and injured human body, and allowing our students to figure out what they can do in response through hands-on, student-led activities. The result? Incredible students who enter the backcountry feeling confident and well-prepared, and who are out there today making safer places of our wild spaces.

What does this look like in practice? Coast Wilderness Medical Training was founded by nerdy paramedics with an intense love of the backcountry and a genuine desire to make it a safer place. All Coast Wilderness instructors continue to be paramedics or EMRs with lots of direct experience helping sick and injured people. We offer courses that are intense, challenging, and fun. Our students are treated with the respect they deserve; no “dumbing down” of material, no pretending to know things we don’t, and plenty of learning support for anyone who needs it. All of your questions are fair game, and if we don’t know the answer, we surely know someone who does. His name is Mark.

In 2019, after years of demands from our students, Coast Wilderness began offering First Responder and Emergency Medical Responder training. These courses bring our trademark nerdy love of medicine and over-the-top student support to professional responder training, helping students prepare for a career on ambulance, in fire departments, and in many other important roles in our communities.

Today, I am very proud and excited to see so many of our students succeeding in these careers. You are the future of paramedicine in our towns and cities, and of vital first aid in the wilderness. That future could not be in better hands.