Recommendations for Online Training

[stbone]

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.

[reaper]

Heartsaver with firstaid. Contact someone in your area that teaches CPR.

[VentMedic]

If you take all the courses that the American Red Cross offers you could end up with more hours of training than an EMT-B. Since they are offered by individual class levels at various and not a straight through commitment, they may work better in your schedule.

Some hunting and gun clubs also teach first aid with the outdoor type in mind.

[EMS Solutions]

Not sure where you are loacted but you may be able to find a wilderness first aid cousre near you. I know of one in Indiana

http://www.medtact1.com/index.html

Maybe a peek at this site can you give an idea of what to look for.

Jim

[spenac]

Take the ECA course, it is just a little above a regular CPR/first aid course.

http://www.techproservices.net/emt_info.php

http://www.percomonline.com/percom/Courses...72/Default.aspx

[brentoli]

You're going to get 500 answers.

Is there any specific knowledge you are looking for?

What type of outdoor activities do you partake in?

Honestly, if you just want some first aid reference, buy the latest copy of a Boy Scout handbook. I am being serious. There is enough in there to get you out of the woods alive.

[Dustdevil]

You're going to get 500 answers.

Is there any specific knowledge you are looking for?

What type of outdoor activities do you partake in?

Honestly, if you just want some first aid reference, buy the latest copy of a Boy Scout handbook. I am being serious. There is enough in there to get you out of the woods alive.

Agreed. EMT would be a waste of your time, full of a bunch of transport and response specific nonsense that would have absolutely no application to anything you do. Your time would be better spent on Red Cross first aid courses. It covers all of the "skills" that are needed for your situation. I would agree with the online ECA course from techproservices, if you want a little further insight. It covers basic bandaging and splinting skills in more depth, as well as increasing your assessment skills, which are more important than any other skill. But EMT would be time and money wasted.

[stbone]

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.

[Dustdevil]

We don't perform deliveries. Mothers do. We just stand there and try to act like we are doing something. Again, you seem to have an unrealistic view of what EMT training provides.

There is nothing more to learn about any of those situations that you won't get in an advanced first aid class. ABC's remain the same throughout the training continuum. Again, it would be a complete waste of your time and money. Especially if you never get any hands-on instruction or practice. Totally pointless.

If you have already forgotten all the stuff you learned in Boy Scouts and first aid, what makes you think you are going to retain any of the new stuff? Your logic here just is not sound. First aid is not a textbook topic. You have to learn it hands-on, and you have to continually practise it in order to retain it. Go back and re-learn what you forgot before you even think about moving forward with something new.

[stbone]

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.