Campus Connection

What do you do when someone breaks a bone, has an allergic reaction to a bee sting or is bleeding severely in the backwoods — a long distance from 911 services? Forty students who joined a Wilderness First Responder course through UW-L’s Outdoor Connection will know. The course is organized annually through the Outdoor Connection, an outdoor equipment rental service on campus. This year the program attracted the largest group ever. Over seven days, Jan. 2-8, three instructors with backgrounds in paramedics guided students through accident simulations in the outdoors around La Crosse and in classroom sessions. Students learned skills to provide medical care in remote areas. The three instructors from Wilderness Medical Associates came from Kentucky, Colorado and Wyoming. Students also come from across the country, says Nathan Barnhart, UW-L assistant director of Recreational Sports. For more information on the course contact Barnhart at 785.6530. Read more about Wilderness Medical Associates.