A Rude Unhinging of the Machinery of Life

In 9th grade I had the option of taking a first aid class as a trimester of PE, and it was one of the most rewarding classes of my pre-college education. I think it met 3 times a week, so we covered lots of material, getting very in-depth into the medical details. Lots of bandaging practice, including full immobilization on a backboard. The drama club was involved to create practice scenes, with bystanders who would freak and pass out, generating another patient to be cared for if you didn't calm them down. It has been the foundation of my medical knowledge ever since. I loved it.

I've taken a couple of first aid/CPR classes since, but they've all been disappointing. The focus of first aid is, of course, keeping someone alive until the ambulance arrives. Which is a perfectly good goal, but it's not very interesting. Today was the first half of the wilderness first aid class with vixyish and adularia. So far, I'm loving it. Real patient examinations, working towards real medical conclusions. The focus with wilderness first aid is not just keeping someone alive for 15 minutes, but maybe up to a couple of weeks. Possibly moving over very difficult terrain. It's simply great.

I should really go for EMT training some day.