For students hoping to explore the great outdoors as the weather warms, Tufts Mountain Club (TMC) this month launched the Outdoor Resource Center (ORC), a new initiative bringing wilderness education to campus.
"The purpose of the Outdoor Resource Center is to increase the outdoor skill and abilities of mountain club members as well as the general Tufts community," TMC president Joshua Elliott, a sophomore, said.
Future programming will include rock climbing workshops and various instructional sessions like compass reading, he added.
"We hope to … encourage those with less experience in the outdoors to try new activities and meet new people, experience new things," Elliott said.
The ORC leaders' next program will bring Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO), a school offering wilderness medicine and safety education across the country, to campus to provide the Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course, according to TMC's On−Campus Director Daniel Meer.
The two−day first−aid course aims to provide students with the particular skills needed to handle emergencies in the wilderness, freshman Anna Graham, who helped organize the event, said.
Outdoor emergency care requires special skills that aren't part of conventional first−aid training, according to Graham.
"First aid is a good thing to know anywhere, but in the wilderness it's different because you don't have access to normal things like proper medical equipment," Graham said. "You have to be able to improvise."
Upon completion of the course, students will earn a WFA certification, according to Meer, a junior. He said a WFA certification qualifies individuals to work in a wide range of outdoor positions.
"It's really an all−purpose certification that people who have a long−term commitment to the outdoors should have," Meer said.
The certification has practical applications for students looking for work opportunities in the outdoors, according to Graham.
"I'm working in a state park this summer, and … it's one of those things they like to see," she said.
Freshman Will Ross, who also helped organize the event, said the clinic is also relevant for anyone intending to explore the wilderness.
"It's an extremely important course to have for anyone who is planning on leading a trip … or is at all interested in the outdoors," Ross said.
The two−day course, which costs $95 per person, will prepare participants to care for injured hikers and transport victims to medical authorities, according to Ross.
"The first day is really about assessment and figuring out, ‘How big of an emergency is this? Where can I evacuate?'" he said. "The second day you start doing basic treatment."
Those treatments might include building splints out of sticks or simply preventing injuries from worsening, Ross added.
"Part of it is in the classroom, then the other half is practical work where you'll see students being placed in trees, while other students will have to use the first aid kit to stabilize the student to be able to take him out of the wilderness," Meer said.
The SOLO certification, which lasts for two years, is widely seen as a reputable accomplishment, Meer said.
Graham emphasized the importance of quality instruction when it comes to learning how to give emergency care.
"To be first−aid certified, to be able to care for someone in an emergency situation, it's a big deal," Graham said. "You want to have a good instructor."
Graham said that students can register at TMC's website and that the course will be capped at thirty participants to ensure the maximum level of the quality of instruction.
"You want to keep it small so that people can have personal attention," Graham said.
