I think the most important transferrable skill from Wilderness Advanced First Aid training is the ability to make decisions under pressure.  The whole point of Wilderness Advanced First Aid is to determine the best course of action for the patient in a high-stress situation while also making the right decision for yourself and anyone else who might be affected.  In leadership, you have to make the right call for the situation at hand while also balancing your own needs with those of the group.  In both situations, a process must be followed, and deviations from the process are cause for discussion, especially if there are dissenting opinions on what might be best.

            This Wilderness Advanced First Aid training makes you prepared for anything whether that’s in emergency situations or just in leadership situations.  You go into the practice scenarios prepared for anything but not expecting anything.  I think that’s an important mindset for leadership because you can’t predict every event, but you can certainly be prepared for anything that comes your way.  In these pressure ridden situations, communication is more important than ever because effective communication can benefit the patient in a first aid emergency, and in leadership situations, communicating effectively creates the safe environment needed for a team to thrive.  With this communication skill, it allows anyone, WAFA caretaker and leadership student, to relate to others.  Relating to others is important in first aid because it shows your care and concern for the patient as well as calms them down in a situation that’s bound to be stressful for them.  It works the same way when you’re the leader of a group.  You have a position that allows you to connect with the people you’re leading and give them the support they need in any circumstance.

            When you are thrown into a Wilderness Advanced First Aid situation, you’re immediately put into a leadership situation whether you know it or not.  As a person versed in WAFA, you have the responsibility to take charge and use your training to help the case as best you can, the same responsibility any leader has.  At the core of this is flexibility and adaptability.  You can’t be ready for anything if you’re unable to change your actions depending on the needs of the situation.

In Wilderness Advanced First Aid, we learn so many hard skills that it’s easy to think that they don’t apply to leadership.  However, the situational awareness that we are developing through this WAFA course is something that will be forever ingrained in my brain.  I know how to assess scenes and assign priority to tasks utilizing the resources available in the most proactive way.  I can also coordinate and collaborate with others to enact a plan, emergency-wise or otherwise, and I’m prepared to manage risk when it comes to any event.  Through WAFA, we develop our emotional intelligence, so we are better prepared to handle our own emotions and the emotions of those around us.  In short, the Bee Gee’s were ahead of their time, and with their help, I can help you stay alive.

(if you made it this far: here’s Allison with her new friend)