Response to Wilderness First Aid: Is There an “Industry Standard?”

To the Editor:

The recent article Wilderness First Aid: Is There an “Industry Standard?” ¹ provided an interesting overview of current first aid requirements for several outdoor oriented organizations, including the American Canoe Association (ACA). However, since the time the article was written, the ACA has changed its instructor prerequisites. Until recently, the ACA recommended, but did not require, that instructors obtain appropriate first aid training. In February, 2009, the ACA's Board of Directors voted to require all of our 4000+ instructors to hold a minimum of Red Cross standard first aid, or equivalent, and to hold cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification appropriate for the age of their students. New instructors will be required to obtain first aid and CPR certification prior to receiving certification as an ACA instructor. All ACA instructors are encouraged to obtain higher levels of first aid training.

The ACA's Board considered many of the points mentioned in the article, including the lack of standardization within the industry, the appropriateness of course content, and the ability of our instructors to effectively use the material taught. Other issues considered included the cost (both monetary and time) of training and ease of access to training for our largely volunteer instructor corps. Although the ACA's Board felt that wilderness first aid training might be appropriate for our instructors, these concerns prevented board members from requiring such training. Both the article by Dr Welch et al. ¹ and the accompanying editorial by Dr Forgey ² proposed that an evidence-based course, addressing the points above, might be developed by the wilderness medicine community and the Wilderness Medical Society. The ACA strongly supports the proposals of Dr Welch and colleagues and Dr Forgey, and would be very interested in offering the resultant course to our instructors and members.