Remote area first aid, St Johns or Red Cross

We found it good, the instructors who we had new their stuff but we sent two guys who work for us to one and the instructor told them some of the things we learnt were wrong....one of the guys checked in the first aid manual and the instructor was contradicting what was said in the first aid manual.

We are about to make a complaint about it.

Well worth it....bloody dear thou.

Graeme,

Being a Paramedic, I always advise people to do a course with your local ambulance service if they provide one. I notice you're in NSW and I'm not sure what the go is up there, but in Vic, the
Ambulance Service run their own courses and generally have Paramedics teaching them. You then get taught by someone who does this stuff every day for a living, rather than someone who lectures all day for a living.

The benefit, IMO is the little 'extras' that get passed on in general discussion which can help to concrete concepts for participants. For the most basic courses, it probably doesn't matter that much, but I think it is more important for the more advanced courses, such as the remote area course to be taught by someone with an understanding of remote areas as well as a Paramedic.

Cheers,

Mark

The Wilderness Medicine Institute of Australia offers a range of courses, 2-4 days in length. They are an alternative to what you have mentioned, their focus is on you to be able to cope without the immediate medical back-up usually found in our cities. At a personal level I found their course and their 1st Aid kits very practical and useful particularly when patching somebody up after an accident in the middle of Africa. This course is worth a look at.
Regards Don