Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Response Training

08/26/2025

🌲⛑️ **Wilderness First Aid Training – Traverse City** 🌲⛑️

Do you spend time in the woods, on the water, or off the beaten path? What happens if help is hours (or days) away? Are you ready to take care of yourself or someone else when **no ambulance, no hospital, and no helicopter** is coming?

Join us for a **16-hour Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification course** presented by *Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Response Training*.

📍 **Location:** Schillinger Forestry, 1826 Perry’s Loop, Traverse City, MI
📅 **Dates:** September 24–25, 2025
💵 **Cost:** \$250 (National 2-year certification)
👨‍🏫 Instructor: Steve Huisman, Great Lakes WERT

👉 Who is this for? Campers, anglers, hunters, boaters, hikers, Scout leaders, rangers, missionaries — and anyone who wants to be prepared when things go wrong in the backcountry.

📌 **Register Now:**
🔗 www.GreatLakesWERT.com

Seats are limited — don’t miss your chance to gain lifesaving skills before your next adventure!🏕️

Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Readiness Training (WERT)

08/13/2025

🏕 What Would You Do Wednesday:
You’re hiking with a friend when they misstep on a root and twist their ankle badly.
You’re 3 miles from the trailhead, cell service is spotty, and your packs are already heavy.

Do you:
A. Try to carry them out fireman style. Fireman style here has nothing to do with recliners.
B. Have them change their socks, take 800 mg of ibuprofen, drink water, and suck it up.
C. Call for help and wait where you are. The concept of self-rescue is from the last century.
D. Give the ankle some support with an Ace wrap or a SAM splint. Harvest a cane or crutch from a nearby tree, and carefully walk to the trailhead.

Backcountry injuries can go from minor to major fast if you don’t make the right call.

📅 Learn how to assess, stabilize, and evacuate injured hikers in our Wilderness First Aid course — www.GreatLakesWERT.com.

08/12/2025

Trail Tip Tuesday: Hot spots are an early warning sign. Stop immediately, tape it, and change your socks if possible. Ignoring it can turn a minor irritation into a trip-ending blister.

One Thing that kept me busy as a Navy Corpsman working with Marines was caring for blisters. Using properly broken-in boots and changing into clean, dry socks throughout a long hike are the keys to prevention. Having some moleskin and the appropriately sized Band-Aid is the quick and effective fix. Tincture of benzoine in your first aid kit will also be helpful if you happen to sweat. Every Corpsman knows, moleskin is right up there with drinking a canteen of water and 800 mg of Motrin. It is a miracle-working, cure-all.

Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Readiness Training (WERT)

06/10/2025

We had a great time doing back-to-back WFA courses in Traverse City. The first one was at SEEDs, and then one for the staff at the Human Nature School! It was fantastic weather, and the participants were great. The next WFA is at West Shore Community College on July 11 and 12. That one includes meals, and you can camp overnight on campus!

05/20/2025

We are offering a Wilderness First Aid course on the West Shore Community College campus on July 11 and 12! This course will be a blast. Participants can stay in tents overnight, and breakfast and lunch are included. The contact information for signing up is on the flyer. You need to get a hold of Lisa O'Connor at loconnor@WestShore.edu.

04/05/2025

Day one of the Wilderness First Aid course is in the can. Hannah Meixner taught all day. We stayed indoors due to cold weather. Still had a bunch of fun and learned all kinds of information. Last night I saw a moose.

04/04/2025

We are back up in Petoskey, MI at North Central Michigan College for a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course. This is one of my favorite venues. A small but beautiful campus with great people to work with! We did a WFA course here last fall. We are doing another WFA at the Rockford Ambulance Training Center on April 25 & 26.

03/10/2025

Enhance your emergency response skills by enrolling in our Wilderness First Aid course on March 14 & 15 at Rockford Ambulance. This small, hands-on training will prepare you for outdoor emergencies, and spots are filling fast for April and May! Don't wait, secure your place today!
https://conta.cc/3XwZpt6

03/01/2025

Had a fantastic 1-day backcountry trauma care course yesterday. A great group of students. Thank you to the Antrim Conservancy District for sponsoring the course.

02/28/2025

Hannah is running a Backcountry Trauma Care course at the Grass River Nature Center by Bellaire. A beautiful location.

02/21/2025

"Are You Prepared for an Outdoor Emergency?

Join our Wilderness First Aid Course on March 14 & 15 in Rockford, MI and gain the life-saving skills you need for the great outdoors! Learn how to handle injuries like broken ankles, bites, and more—because adventure should never turn into a disaster.

Spots are limited—register now!"

11/23/2024

This last week we completed our first Mountain Bike Trauma Care course at Rockford Ambulance. The class went phenomenally well with a fantastic group of students who seemed to really enjoy t he training. We are hopefully doing more of these courses in 2025.