Denver & Woofers

As if I didn’t spend enough time in Denver earlier this month, I had to go back for an entire week after Wyoming. The upside: I got to drivewaydock at Kat & Pete’s, which meant lots of time catching up with these dear friends. The downside: Denver.

I found myself in the big city to take my Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course at CU Boulder. Wilderness First Responder is universally called “woofer” (the military ain’t the only culture that loves its speaking acronyms, folks). I’ve wanted to take this course for a long time, but now that I’m spending a lot more time in the backcountry, and will hopefully soon be bringing clients into the backcountry, I figure I better know how to re-attach an arm or at least slow the bleeding.

The course was no joke. There were 30+ hours of online curriculum to complete - including tests - before the course even started. Then, we were held hostage in a classroom for 8-12 hours a day for 5 days. That part was beyond painful. But the subject matter was fascinating, the instructors were amazing, and I walked away feeling confident that I could manage and triage a variety of injuries in the backcountry until real help arrived.

The assignment: splint an arm with whatever you have in your pack. I had a MTB tire tube, knee pads, a tool wrap, two shirts, and a hair tie. It worked!

I told you it was no joke!

Splinting a leg for the final exam.

Despite having to drive to Boulder every day, and fight traffic and people and overpriced city food, it was a really amazing experience. If you spend any time in the backcountry, you should consider taking this course. It was rad.