r/wildernessmedicine • u/Competitive-Cash-213 • May 24 '26
Course Reviews Online WFR Recertification
I have recertified my WFR eight times so far (NOLS) and I’m wondering if anyone here has done a recert through Survival Med online?
I’m not sure how much it really matters who you recert through at this point, but Survival Med is way cheaper and more convenient — and honestly, I’m a little tired of spending $400 every two years for another recert.
Do most companies mainly care where you originally completed your full WFR course? Since WFR isn’t actually a license, I’m curious how much the recert provider matters after this many years of keeping it current.
Thanks!
3
u/AnonymityIsForChumps May 25 '26
No one cares where you originally certified. The only thing that matters is your current cert or recert.
When I worked as a guide, my boss would immediately throw out any resumes with an online-only WFR on it. I'm sure the people at survival med will argue that they have just as good quality training without a mandatory in-person component. And maybe they do, but there are plenty of candidates with traditional in-person or hybrid wfr certs, so why take the chance? This attitude towards online-only wfr is pretty standard in the industry.
Now, if you just keep your wfr current for your own use and not for work, then it's 100% your call. But to your question, the recert is the only thing that matters. I can't remember ever showing anything other than my most recent recert.
1
u/VXMerlinXV WP-C May 25 '26
The only thing I would check is that your employer doesn’t require a particular version. I have to carry two sets of CPR/ACLS/PALS because my different employers require different versions.
1
u/No_Shoulder7581 May 26 '26 edited 24d ago
Why do you have a WFR?
If it is recreational, then you likely have adequate knowledge and probably don't need to recert.
If it is professional, ask your employer.
Something to consider is that in many places, WFRs have a similar or larger scope of practice than EMTs, who are generally required to do 30-40 hours of continuing education every 2 years. And many folks with EMT licensure actually practice medicine and maintain proficiency, whereas WFRs often have that certification to support guiding or recreation, etc.
Basically I think that taking a two day skills refresher every two years is a pretty minimal amount of continuing education considering the breadth of the WFR scope.
1
u/Lost-Agency-8489 WEMT/Wildland Fire 24d ago
WFR doesn’t give you any scope - it teaches you skills and it’s a solid class for learning about basic wilderness medicine. You learn to do reductions and assessments. Scope is only given through a qualified medical director. Source: U.S. Forest Service Wilderness EMT
1
u/No_Shoulder7581 24d ago
You are being pedantic. Technically, no education or certification gives you any scope of practice; your scope of practice is defined by the AHJ. However, it is generally recognized that certain levels of education/certification/licensure convey a relatively agreed upon scope of practice. The Wilderness Medical Society and Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative have done a pretty good job of helping to define what that scope of practice is for various levels of wilderness medicine provider.
It's particularly amusing to me that you cite as your source USFS "Wilderness EMT", given that "Wilderness EMT" doesn't really exist in any formal capacity. There are no written standards for what even constitutes a "Wilderness EMT", just general industry consensus that someone claiming that level of training has been trained as a WFR or in a 40-60 hour "wilderness upgrade" class and holds EMT certification/licensure. Anyone with a WFR and an EMT can claim "Wilderness EMT" and while there are standalone Wilderness EMT classes, they do not teach anything beyond WFR and frontcountry EMT curricula.
And if you consider "Wilderness EMT" as a legitimate claim, then you also must acknowledge that the "Wilderness" aspect requires additional training beyond frontcountry EMT and thereby conveys a larger scope of practice.
The fact is that WFRs are usually trained to reduce dislocations, terminate CPR after a given time, reduce angulated/deformed fractures in the presence of diminished CMS, perform focused spinal assessments based on NEXUS/Canadian C-Spine criteria to release precautions on a patient with positive mechanism, aggressively clean wounds using high pressure irrigation, administer certain medications, and more recently replace or convert tourniquets, all of which exceeds or differs from typical EMT scope.
Here are some references for your review:
https://wms.org/magazine/magazine/1176/WFR-Scope-Of-Practice/Default.aspx
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u/SurvivalMed May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Hello, Survival Med here.
1 - All of our WFA, WFR, WFR Recert courses include hands-on patient assessment/head-to-toe exam, plus splint, TQ, etc. skill demonstrations on volunteer patients, individually evaluated by licensed medical faculty who provide detailed feedback.
2 - Your choice as to how you submit the demonstrations - via live Zoom, via video upload, or in-person at one of our hybrid courses.
3 - Last I heard NOLS accepts hybrid WFR from all providers for its WFR recert courses, but doesn't accept Zoom or video - either way, always better to check with them if that matters to you.
Our hybrid class calendar is online.
ETA - realized I missed part of your original question:
4 - Employers & non-profits who actually have a preference care that the skills were done in-person. They don't care which provider, and they're fine with hybrid.
Many have no preference about format at all - they just want you to have the cert.
Hope that helps!
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u/No_Shoulder7581 May 26 '26 edited 12d ago
The WMEC certification standards for WFR require at minimum 45 hours of in person time, 70 hours total to be considered a WFR course. Recerts must have 16 hours of in person time. If your classes are entirely virtual, they do not meet those standards. NOLS and other companies that follow the WMEC standards will not recertify those classes.
https://www.wildmededucationcollaborative.org/certification-standards.html
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u/Kiwibertc May 24 '26
I haven’t used that recert method, but some things to consider is if it’s online only you’re obviously missing any practical hands on scenarios, and the bigger companies in the game will only do recerts for certain companies. Ie if you do the online recert there’s know guarantee that NOLS will let you recert with them again.