Classroom and reality: lessons from real emergencies

Abstract

In the Wilderness First Responder course that I direct and teach for the American Red Cross in Oakland, CA, we have students write an essay on a real emergency as part of the final examination. In their essays, the students describe what happened and how people reacted, including what anyone present did to help. They then describe what they would do differently now, after having completed our course. By writing this essay, students put their training in context and reflect on what they have learned that could make a difference. This exercise also gives instructors a reading on how well our course is preparing students to cope with real emergencies and what we can do to improve the curriculum and training process. This article presents several examples from student essays; the essays have been paraphrased and names have been omitted to protect privacy. From each example, we'll draw out the lessons the student learned from the experience and from our course. We'll also see what instructors can learn from the essays that will help them teach wilderness emergency care more effectively.