High School Wild Med Initiative
DMM believes resiliency and joy reside in wilderness, and that every Colorado youth deserves the skills and knowledge to safely thrive in their near and far wildernesses, and to enjoy the benefits that come from a community empowered by nature’s teachings.
A Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification for every graduating high school senior in Colorado, earned through their school’s Health, Wellness, or Physical Education curriculum at no extra cost to students – that’s the goal of DMM’s High School Wild Med Initiative. To help achieve this goal, we partner with Colorado schools and nonprofits to support Colorado educators in bringing WFA curriculum to their nature-based classrooms.
For Students and Educators
For High School Students
The High School Wild Med Initiative offers Colorado youth access to a nationally recognized WFA certification facilitated through their school according to their community’s unique needs. a WFA course provides technical career readiness training as well as a foundation of knowledge in outdoor preparedness and risk management. Students learn life-saving first aid skills, deepen their knowledge of pathophysiology, practice risk management techniques, critical thinking, and problem solving, and strengthen social-emotional awareness, wellness, and empathy.
There are a variety of ways to bring WFA courses to high school classrooms. Schools can choose to bring in a DMM instructor to instruct WFA courses for their students, or schools may make a larger commitment to this vital training pathway for their students by sending their teachers to DMM’s Instructor Training Course. In either scenario, schools are empowered to design course progression and focuses to their unique student populations’ needs.
Expanded Opportunities and Confidence for Educators
DMM offer teachers continuing education courses. The Wilderness First Aid-Instructor Training Course instructs teachers in the skills and competencies to teach WFA courses in their high school classrooms, and activate nearby nature for teaching and learning. As a pre-requisite to teaching WFA courses, WFA-ITC participants are required to hold a medical certification at least one level above WFA (WFR, EMR, EMT, Medic, RN, etc.). Teachers who complete the WFA-ITC are credentialed to teach WFA courses in their classrooms (and for DMM at other venues, if desired), and earn professional development hours for WFA-ITC.
To learn more about how to bring WFA courses to your high school for students and educators, or become credentialed to teach WFA’s to your students, please reach out to [email protected].
