Backcountry Emergencies Certificate

Designed with Students and Teachers in Mind

The Backcountry Emergencies Certificate course was designed for high school outdoor education programs. Use the form below to get the conversation started, and find out what we offer!

If you’re looking for something more, any of our full Red Cross programs can be modified to fit into your schedule. Contact us to discuss how we can make our 20 hour RFA, 40 hour WFA, or 80 hour WFR programs available to you.

Includes

CPR/AED ‘C’

The Backcountry Emergencies Certificate program is a unique, 12 hour wilderness first aid fundamentals course designed to enhance high school outdoor education programs. Coast Wilderness has been been partnering with public and private schools to deliver Wilderness First Aid training for many years, and those experiences - and the incredible feedback we've received along the way - helped us to develop this high quality, experiential training in a format that can be adapted to the schedule and needs of secondary school programs.

Don’t expect rigid protocols. The BEC is focused as much on giving participants the confidence to act in an emergency as it is on introducing the fundamental concepts of Wilderness First Aid. Our training focus is on risk prevention and preparation, easy-to-remember principles, and practical techniques that can be improvised with whatever gear is at hand. Participants can expect an energetic, fun day that minimizes lecture-style lessons in favour of lots of hands-on training with props, make-up and fake blood.

Travel

Yes! We do courses outside of the lower mainland - recent destinations included Hazelton, Zeballos and Gold River. Our instructors love to travel, and we never charge any extra fees on their travel or accommodation costs.

Backcountry Emergency Certificate

The Backcountry Emergency Certificate is issued by Coast Wilderness Medical Training. This certificate indicates that the holder has been introduced to fundamental principles of wilderness first aid, and can reliably participate in the management of major medical, traumatic and environmental emergencies.

Red Cross Certifications

Canadian Red Cross certifications are widely recognized and trusted across Canada. All BEC programs include a Red Cross CPR/AED-C certificate.

Optional Certifications

The following Red Cross certifications can be integrated into, or offered alongside, the BEC training. All costs are per student.

• Red Cross Emergency First Aid ($26): EFA requires a 3 hour online pre-study module. EFA is recognized in BC as a full equivalent to OFA-1, which many students value for their résumé.

• Red Cross Standard First Aid ($75): SFA requires a 5 hour online pre-study module PLUS an additional 3-4 hours of class time. SFA is also recognized as a full equivalent to OFA-1.

• Red Cross Remote First Aid ($175): Students who complete the BEC can upgrade to a full 20 hour Red Cross RFA certificate. These upgrade opportunities courses can be arranged through the school, or separately based on demand and student schedules.

Training Schedule

The BEC is designed to be flexible schedules, so we can fit our training into your curriculum. Let us know what you need, and we will do our best to make it work! Common options include:

• Three 4-hour school-day sessions.

• Two 6-hour school-day sessions.

• One 4-hour school-day session + One 8-hour weekend session.

* A schedule of four 3-hour sessions is also available, but requires an additional surcharge to compensate our instructors for the shorter days.

Locations

We come to you!

We require a classroom space for the first few hours of the program, to get the CPR, First Aid Basics, and risk prevention in place.

The rest of the course takes place outside. We will work with you to find a suitable place near your school.

The BEC schedule is flexible - this is a sample outline of the course delivered over three 4-hour days.

Current Best Practices

As a Red Cross training partner, Coast Wilderness Medical Training offers you a course curriculum founded on current best practices as defined by the Canadian Red Cross, Wilderness Medical Society, the Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine, the International Liaison Council on Resuscitation, and the Paramedic Association of Canada.

Outstanding Instructors

Our BEC instructors are not only experienced medical professionals with plenty of backcountry experience - they have plenty of experience working with high school students, too. We come prepared with a toolkit of activities and incentives to keep your students engaged during our training sessions. We also offer an unparalleled instructor-to-student ratio of not more than 10-to-1 to facilitate both learning and group management.

In short, under the guidance of a Coast Wilderness Medical Training instructor, your students will receive the highest quality training, cleverly concealed in a supportive, engaging and fun experience.

Risk Management & Accident Prevention

The BEC includes a robust risk awareness and prevention element that is integrated throughout the program to better reinforce what is, arguably, the most important topic in outdoors education.

Adaptable Scenarios

All Coast Wilderness courses are rooted in hands-on learning, with as much time as possible spent in immersive scenarios complete with make-up, props, and just so much fake blood.

These scenarios can be adapted to the activities you have planned - if you are planning a rock climbing trip at Smoke Bluffs, for example, we can develop scenarios around that.

Flexible Scheduling

Most wilderness first aid curricula don't adapt well to irregularly scheduled training blocks. However, we designed the Backcountry Emergencies program to be delivered in a series of scaffolded modules, each with its own distinct learning narrative, flow, and goals. This allows teachers to more easily accommodate students' existing schedules and events.

Get Started!

The BEC program can be adapted to fit almost any high school outdoor education or PE curriculum. To discuss how to make it happen for your students, use the form below or telephone (778) 554-3731.