stbone

Thanks all for your help.

Dustdevil, I appologize if I seemed argumentative. I really appreciate the information and recommendations that people have given me here. I have been checking out the sites and courses that people have been recommending and am very happy with what has been recommended. As a result, I am looking for a local wilderness first aid class. As some background for why I am doing this, I recently was reading about treatment of bleeding in the internet. Most places seemed to talk about applying direct pressure to the wound. One site, that seemed to be geared more towards EMT types spoke of not applying direct pressure to the wound, but packing the wound itself with gauze. After reading this material I questioned whether basic first aid was realy the right treatment, or more of an idiot-proof temporary solution. Not knowing if any of this was true, I thought that I should try to learn the next step in first aid to make sure that I really can provide basic care to myself and others. It seemed like EMT training would be the next logical step. But, after having read the comments here, I will go take more first aid classes and maybe the techpro class as well. Again, thanks for the information and I appologize if I seemed argumentative.

I agree that I need to review what I learned as a boy scout and that will be my first step. I am fairly certain that I have retained a good deal of what I learned, and my recollection is that it was fairly rudimentary. Additionally, I realize that there were holes in my boy scout training. One rather large hole was dealing with severe bleeding. It seemed that teaching regarding treatment of severe bleeding changed during my time as a boy scout from the practice of using tourniquets to that of applying direct pressure. (I believe I still have the boy scout handbook that demonstrates the use of a scout handkerchief as a tourniquet.) Although direct pressure may be the "right" answer, I don't know if it is. I am not expecting to become a surgeon or ob/gyn through a little reading on the internet. Mostly what I want to learn is how to properly treat bleeding and trauma, and I figure what is curently being taught to EMT's is proper treatment. If I can learn what EMT's do to catch babies that are being delivered even better. I mostly just want to increase my understanding of proper treatment of injuries and increase my ability to help people.

I was/am a boy scout and have received that basic first aid training. I have also taken CPR classes from red cross instructors. It has however been a long time since I was a boy scout or last took a CPR class and should review that material as a first step. I will find my boy scout handbook and review that. Generally, I would like to improve my skills a step or two beyond the boy scout level. Although I would like to improve all of my first aid skills, I would most like to improve my ability to deal with traumas and bleeding. Since I hunt I worry about falls, gunshot wounds, cuts, impalements, broken bones, sprained ankles, and the like. But, since I also drive cross-country, I would like to learn how to better treat injuries of the type received in car accidents. Also, since I have a wife and and infant child (and am hoping to have other children) I would like to learn how to perform basic first aid on a child as well as how to perform an emergency delivery. I hope this helps explain more clearly what I am looking to learn.

I am not trying to become certified as an EMT. I do however spend lots of time outdoors, hunt and shoot, and travel by car a lot - all of which are activities in which people get hurt. Having realized that my first aid skills are lacking, I am looking for a way to improve them. I recognize that online courses do not provide hands-on experience, but am wondering if they would be a good way to improve my knowledge and skills in emergency medicine. Is there any value in taking online courses? Does anyone have any recommendations? Would continuing education type programs offer any benefit? Thanks for your help.