Wilderness First Aid Australia

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

'Wilderness' vs 'Remote' First Aid courses:

The difference between these two types of courses are based on where you 'work' and 'play'. Wilderness is an international term that has been used for over 30 years and since early 90's when Wilderness First Aid became popular in Australia we have adopted the same term. Australian's have always used the term Remote as it describes all the vast isolated areas 'on' and 'off' shore of Australia. Also the word wilderness restricts us to a view of only bushland where remote is a much broader term. The main thing to know is courses are highlighted around gaining knowledge and skills to assist the responder dealing with a patient in a 'long term care' situation where medical assistance is more than 2 hours away.

Wilderness courses are heavily focused on situations where help can be several hours to days away, typically in journey based travel into areas where a patient may need to be carried or moved to a site to be evacuated. Remote course are more tailered around situations where there is easier Emergency Service access or responders can vacuate easier by vehicle and you are not treating patients for several hours. This may be the case in situations of 'hard top camping' rather than journey based travel.

A choice of pragram should be made based on your personal activities, travel and employment status. Participants can always choose a course and if they feel that it doesn't suit the level required choose a more advanced course next time.

Since the introduction of the 'Wilderness First Aid Skill Set' the Outdoor Industry has considered it a standard to be acheived by Outdoor Leaders. These competencies from the Sport, Fitness and Recreation Training Package meet competency requirements for the new Wilderness First Aid Skill Set.

Our courses

As Wilderness First Aid Australia primarily runs programs for organisations in Australia we only have a select number of public courses available per year. Most of the organisations we run training for will allow a number of external participant positions hence why we advertise positions available with certain courses. If you do not see a course on the calendar that suits your dates do not hesitate to contact the office to enquire whether we have some positions on unadvertised courses.

Unfortunately, only 40 percent of our courses make it to the website.

Qualifications

Wilderness First Aid Australia is proud to be partnered with one of the leading RTO providers in Victoria, Australian Institute of Leadership and Safety (AILS). Through this partnership we are able to offer a good range of short courses including Urban, Wilderness and Customised first aid.

Our range of Wilderness First Aid courses meet the industry requirements for the new 'Wilderness First Aid Skill Set' derived from both Sport, Fitness and Recreation and Health Training Packages.

After successful completion of the Wilderness First Aid Skill Set participants will gain three units credit towards the HLT21015 Certificate II in Medical Service First Response.

Be reassured that along with the high standard of training provided by WFAA and the strong partnership we have with AILS you will be recieving the right qualification for the Outdoor Industry.

Our Instructors

Our instructors range from professional outdoor educators, urban EMT’s, Intensive Care Paramedics, Nurses, Ski Patrollers and Guides. The breadth of knowledge and experience covers a wide variety of areas with many years of patient management experience in all types of environments.

Course types:

We have a range of courses to suit individual and organisation's needs. Courses are based specifically on a number of things i.e. hours, days, qualification requirements. THe courses below and hours ONLY reflect 'face to face' hours. All courses have an extensive online pre-course component.

Courses we have on offer are:

Basic Remote First Aid (16 hours) 2 days

Remote First Aid (28 hours) 3 days

Wilderness First Aid (50 hours) 5 days

Leaders Wilderness Advanced First Aid – LWFA (60 hours) 7 days

WFA/LWFA recertification course (24 hours) 3 days

WFR recertification (28 hours) 3.5 days

Remote Area Medic-Basic (RAM-B) (100 hrs) 9 days (formally Wilderness First Responder)

Custom courses

For the list of Units of Competency for each course please contact the office on 03 9005 7172 or [email protected] for further information.

Making a booking

When making a booking please contact the office directly by using the 'Contact Us' page on the website as from time to time the office is unnattended due to the nature of the business and at times having no means of communication. You can followup via phone and talk with someone in the office or leave a message for a return call. We are honest in saying email is your best option.

We do not recommend any potential student makes any logistic arrangements until they have received an 'official' final email confirming that a course will be running. There has been rare cases where a course has been cancelled by WFAA due to lower than expected numbers or a Host cancellation.

WFAA will not be responsible for any financial losses in this instance. Though WFAA will reimburse any student who has accrued 'out of pocket' expenses after WFAA has confirmed a course as running.

COVID NOTE: Throughout COVID, WFAA highly recommends that all participants purchase travel insurance in case a course has to be cancelled due to Border closures, State lockdowns, travel restrictions, venue closures or any other related COVID safety matter. This will also cover you financially for the unexpected situations where you may need to self quarantine on arrival into another State. WFAA will not be responsible for any paticipant's 'out of pocket' expences due to any COVID related issues.

Enrolment process

On enquiring about a specific course with the WFAA office you will be placed on the 'course roll' and once that program has reached the required minimum numbers you will recieve an Enrolment Link from [email protected] for you to enrol in that exact course. DO NOT book any logistics until being advised that the course will actually run. In the case where you are potentially booking onto a 'Host Course' that has already reached minimum numbers you will recieve your enrolment link email earlier. Students should ensure they check their Junk/Spam email folder regularly in case our email has ended up there. It is not WFAA's responsibility to continually chase/contact/followup students to see if they have recieved the enrolment email.

Online Pre-course

A part of all WFAA programs is the online pre-course work. ALL students are required to complete all sections in full by the designated timeframe. You will recieve notification at the end of the pre-course work when it is 100% complete. Students failing to complete the pre-course by the day before commencement of the program will be notified and will be unable to attend the program. Students will nalso forfiet their fees as per Refund/Cancellation Policy. On booking make sure you allow adequate time (2 weeks) to be able to complete the pre-course work. Depending on the type of program the pre-course could take 12-16 hours or more depending on your level of understanding.

The pre-course is not emailed to you automatically. Your enrolment has to be recieved, checked and verified and then you will be sent another email (within 24hrs) with how to login and complete your pre-course. NOTE: Enroling in a course is just the FIRST STEP! Your next step is to wait for your pre-course email with login details. Once recieved you can commence the online work. If you don't recieve the second email first check your Junk/Spam folder and if you still do not have what you need contact the WFAA office.

Where you enrol afetr 2pm on a Friday afterrnoon you may not recieve your link to the pre-course until the following Monday. In the event it is a Public Holiday you may not recieve your link until the next working day. Avoid this by enroling early.

PLEASE NOTE: 99% of enrolment and pre-course issues are related directly with students not checking their Junk/Spam folders. Other issues are students sign up with their personal email address (web address) and then expecting an email from another email address i.e. work or school email. Information will only be delivered to the email address students have enrolled with. Unfortunately, some computer servers/networks block emails from unknown sources. This is not a WFAA issue it is a reciever issue. You will need to contact your IT Dept. Please do not call the WFAA office frustrated as this is not our fault and will not fix the issue!

Waiting Lists

Our waiting lists work on a 'first come, first served' scenario. As our courses book out quickly we do often open up a 'waiting list' allowing potential students to have a chance at attending their first choice of course. We also allow participants to place their name on other courses in line of preference and try to work closely to accommodate the best suited course.

Course Payments

We ask for a deposit for your course eight (8) weeks out from commencement to secure your position. We then email you the final payment invoice approximately four (4) weeks prior to course commencement with participants having 7 days to pay in full. If not paid within 7 days you unfortunately jeopardise your position to those on the 'waiting list'. WFAA will not be responsible for those losing their position due to non payment. Wilderness courses are very expensive to run and the organisation cannot afford to have people cancel at 'last minute'.

Cancellation/Refund Policy

Where a confirmed course is cancelled by WFAA a 'FULL REFUND' of tuition will be given to your nominated account.

Where an organisation has provided an official acceptance (Purchase Order, Official Letter, email) and chooses to cancel their program, they are required to refund WFAA any adherent costs associated with logistics of the course and also meet the refund policy below. If any part of logistics can be salvaged/reassigned to a rescheduled program this will be attempted.

Where a organisation/participant chooses to cancel their position the refund policy is as follows:

4-6 weeks from commencement of course 'FULL REFUND'

2-4 weeks from commencement of the course '50% REFUND'

0-2 weeks from commencement of the course 'NO REFUND'

EXCEPTIONS: When a course is marked 'FULL' and a student is still wanting to 'cancel' and can find their own replacement or WFAA has a student on the 'Waiting List' that can take your position WFAA will provide a 'FULL refund' in 'good faith' after course commencement.

When a student has chosen to book onto a 'Host Course' this is now out of WFAA's control. If a host cancels/postpones/reschedules their program WFAA will refund any external student's course fees in full BUT WFAA is not liable for any student 'out of pocket' expenses.

COVID-19 Exceptions:

Individuals:

The Refund Policy will become 'null and void' in any case where a student contacts Wilderness First Aid Australia with a doctors certificate stating that they are currently awaiting results from a COVID-19 test, are suffering from any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 or have been ordered to self-isolate due to testing 'positive' to the Corona Virus. False or misleading information will mean you forfeit course fees.

Where a student has been unable to attend (at late notice) due to State lockdowns or State Border closures a refund will not be issued BUT a full credit will be applied and can be used on a future program. In this case the 'Transfer Fee' will be waived though the student will have to pay any extra fees (if any) that are related to their new chosen program. In the case where the course is cheaper the student will be provided with a refund for the difference. NOTE: WFAA is not responsible for and will not refund any partcipant's 'out of pocket' expenses (i.e. flights, hire vehicles, off-site accommodation, etc.) in the matter of any COVID related issues. It is higly recommended that all participants throughout the COVID-19 pandemic purchase travel insurance for this reason.

Deciding last minute not to attend a training course has large financial consequences on WFAA and is not a valid excuse for requesting a refund. Throughout this pandemic we are asking Organisations 'NOT' to book a program or any individual 'NOT' to book a position on any program if they are uncomfortable with the current Corona Virus pandemic.

WFAA appreciates that students will have concerns/fruatrations from 'time to time' when hard decisions need to be made like cancellations, postponements, reschedules of courses but this happens to protect staff, students and the community from COVID-19 outbreaks. We hope all students can understand it's difficult for WFAA as business to accommodate/forsee all scenarios but we do try to minimise disruptions as best we can.

Organisations/Hosts:

WFAA understands that Organisations/Hosts are unable to predict what will happen in the future with the Corona Virus pandemic nor know when Stale/Federal Governents may close State/National Borders, apply travel restrictions, etc. so it would be wrong of us to expect clients to adhere to late course cancellations due to COVID-19 outbreak. Once WFAA has been advised by official acceptance (email, purchase order, deposit payment, payment in full) that the course will run logistical arrangements will begin.

Organisations/Hosts who cancel after official acceptance, though inside our cancellation 'timeframes' will only be charged for WFAA 'out of pocket' expenses. WFAA are unable to absorb logistic costs due to a client cancelling their program regardless of reasons.

Where possible WFAA will work with the client to rearrange an alternative date to run their program.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL cancellations need to be in writing or via email using the initial booking email address. This ensures no one else is cancelling your position.

COVID-19 Precautions:

Due to the nature of our training WFAA is unable to adhere fully to the 1.5mtr Social Distancing Rule so all students are required to purchase a $22 COVID Protection pack to attend. This is to ensure that we minimise sharing and cross-infection.

Course transfers

In a case where a student was able to attend their original course due to health reasons a course transfer is available. A transfer is only available where a student has met the above requirements when notifying the WFAA office in writing or via approved email path accompanied with a medical certifcate. Your transfer course needs to be booked, confirmed and approved within 3 months of your 'original' course. The Transfer Fee is $150 plus any extra costs (venue, accommodation, catering fees) associated with your new course will need to be paid before you can attend.

NOTE: If you fail to notify the office before the course commences, you automatically forfeit your fees and NO course transfer is available.

FURTHER NOTE: A transfer is not automatic. Most WFAA courses are 'booked out' well in advance and if you do not choose a new course shortly after missing your original course you may miss out. Unfortunately, this means you have forfeited your initial course fees. WFAA does not offer credits for students to book on programs as they please.

Course Credits

WFAA DOES NOT offer credits to students who miss their course or do not turn up. ALL students will need to refer to the Cancellation and Course Transfer policies above.

Administration fees

WFAA only has one administration fee of $150 if students do not adhere to the any of the guidelines above on 'TRANSFERS' and 'CANCELLATIONS' Meaning if you decide to transfer from your original course to another course and pay the transfer fee, then decide to transfer a second time you will be charged again.

Reasons WFAA have time frames is we cannot replace students at short notice due to the logistics of these specialised programs. Unless, its due to personal health reasons students are commited to attending the program. If a student later decides to cancel all together transfer fees are forfeited along with their original booking fees.

Recertification

In Australia students are required to recertify their qualifications every three years and recertify their CPR/AED every 12 months. WFAA adopts the same outlook as to be sure students are kept up with the latest first aid knowlege and skills.

As we know there are many good first aid providers in Australia we do not mandate that CPR/AED is recertified with us BUT do want to ensure it recertified with a reputable company with the right accreditations.

Issuing of certificates

On successful completion and full payment of your course you will receive your certificate within approximately 4 weeks (28 days). At certian times this could take slightly longer with some certificates arriving within 5-6 weeks. This is due to the nature of our remote programs and the time taken to recieve course paperwork back to the office which can take 7 days. In circumstances where a student requires their certificate earlier a 'Verification Letter' can be drafted outling your acheivement and emailed to you.

Lost certificates

In unfortunate circumstances where a student has lost/misplaced their original certificate a replacement can be issued at a cost of $75 inc. GST. Where the original is not required WFAA can provide you a PDF copy at no extra cost.