Wilderness First Aid Certifications in 2023

The Human Path has an online interactive platform that will grant three months access to the online course, which includes instructional lectures, videos, flash cards, and learning resources. Students will receive an emergency first aid kit that contains trauma first aid gear to complete hands-on training in the ‘practical skills’ portion of the course, all done at home.
The 16-hour WFA course will also include downloadable video modules that step through wilderness medicine foundation skills for remote and post-disaster response. Each section will have progress quizzes and a hands-on skills exercise and assessment.
At the end of the course, there will be a final live skills review and test. Students can choose from scheduled times to show mastery of wilderness first aid skills in a private session with an instructor before taking the final certification exam online. Certification will be issued to students who show competency in those skills and pass the training exam with 80% or higher. Certification is issued through Emergency Care & Safety Institute (ECSI), and lasts 2 years from the date of successful passing of the course.
Continuing Education for healthcare. We frequently have healthcare providers attend the WHFR to meet workplace requirements in wilderness medicine training. Healthcare professionals with additional austere and wilderness medicine training expand their skillset for working in emergency environments. THP / HMA is licensed with the state of Texas to offer CEU credits for massage therapists.
River guides, back-country guides and other outdoor education professions. Many of these jobs require wilderness first aid certification and for those who spend more time in the outdoors, the WFR is a coveted training.
Teachers, Educators, Camp Counselors. During summer months, camps look for trained personnel with WFA and WFR certifications, CPR certifications and comfort levels working with emergency situations.
Humanitarian and Disaster Relief workers. While many positions are volunteer-based, organizations are frequently looking for those skilled in the outdoors and in disaster management. Wilderness medicine training is based on the premise that there is no higher care within one hour – making a WFR or WFA-trained staff member an asset.
Most schools that offer a Wilderness First Responder certification (WFR) have 50 to 70 hours of total training, and a few will have as many as 80 hours.
The Human Path / Herbal Medics Academy also includes herbal first aid in both online and hands-on training in the field. Our Wilderness Herbal First Responder certification (WHFR) is 80 hours of hands-on training over ten days and an additional 20 hours of online coursework in botanical first aid for a total of 100 hours of certification training.
Most wilderness medicine schools offer a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certification that is 50 to 70 hours of training. The Human Path / Herbal Medics Academy has a Wilderness Herbal First Responder (WHFR) certification that is 80 hours of on-site training in addition to 20 more online training hours of intensive herbal first aid coursework.
Upon completion of the course, students receive an Advanced Wilderness First Aid certification for 40 hours from ECSI, CPR and AED certification from ECSI, an 80 hour WFR certification card, and a 100-hour Wilderness Herbal First Responder certification from our school, The Human Path / Herbal Medics Academy.
The certification is good for two years.
The Wilderness First Aid course is a 16 hour course. Upon completing the course, students receive a 16-hour WFA certification from ECSI that is good for two years.
Students have the option of adding an addition 8 hour Herbal First Aid certification module to gain a total of 24 hours WHFA certification hours.
RELATED PROGRAMS
WHFA and WHFR certifications are part of the Austere Medicine Program.
24-HR. Wilderness First Aid Certification
This is a 24 hour course taught over 3 days (8 hours per day) and includes both a conventional 16-Hour Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Certification through Emergency Care and Safety Institute (ECSI) as well as more than 8 hours of herbal first aid training.
Herbal First Aid information is integrated into the curriculum every day in order to create a holistic model of remote or post-disaster care that emphasizes the essentials of first aid care while also introducing fundamental plant-medicine concepts that apply to austere or post-disaster environments.
100-Hour Wilderness Herbal First Responder Course
The Wilderness Herbal First Responder is over 100 hours of Wilderness First Aid combined with remote and post-disaster plant medicine. The WHFR also includes a 40-hour WFA certification card and CPR/AED certification card through the Emergency Care and Safety Institute (ECSI). Students who complete the course receive a 100-hour Wilderness Herbal First Responder certification through The Human Path / Herbal Medics Academy as well.