SIGN-UP: YMC Annual 16hr Outdoor REC First Aid course

Hello YMC,

We are seeking expressions of interest to see if we can run a 16hr REC Outdoor First Aid Course in October or November this year.

Sooner or later, as you spend time in the mountains, you may be faced with an injured party member, or witness an accident where First Aid is required. If you are up a mountain, or at a crag, you will likely be faced with remote access and several hours from a Mountain rescue response. It’s good practice to keep your own personal First Aid skills up to date and not to rely on others to do the legwork. If everyone knows the basics, everyone is safer.

The most appropriate training is arguably the Rescue Emergency Care Level 2 16-hour course, which is designed to introduce a systematic way of first aid for managing casualties in an outdoor setting. A Certificate of Attendance on this course is the basic level of first aid and a staple for those working in the outdoor industry; considered the benchmark level for any outdoor Mountain Training award, including Summer and Winter Mountain Leader, as well as Rock Climbing Instructor and other Mountaineering awards. From past experience, it’s an informative, engaging and hands-on course which can be good fun when done with a group of familiar faces.

The REC Level 2 is a 2-day course particularly oriented to first aid in a mountain environment, and it obviously covers all the important stuff eg. wounds, sprains and strains, breakages, heart attacks, hypothermia, concussion etc. There is no examination, but upon completion of the course you get a Certificate valid for 3 years. More information can be found here: https://recfirstaid.net/course&course_id=6

In previous years York MC has been able to hire an Instructor and a York venue, and put together a private course. The result has been, that with all 12 places sold, members have got Certificates for a cost of about half what you might spend booking a course as an individual, (maybe an even greater saving on one needing long travel and/or a night away). Exact costs for 2022 are still to be confirmed, awaiting an update from our regular provider, but should be in the region of £100.00 for the two days.

To begin with, I am just asking for expressions of interest, assuming the course would be over a weekend in October or November. It runs from 9.00 to 17.00 Saturday and Sunday. If you are interested in taking the course, please go to the Doodle Poll at https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/elODV7Md and by clicking on the “Saturday” dates, indicate your availability for FULL WEEKENDS from 1st October. Once we have a minimum of 7 people we can commit to the course and collect money.

This really is a worthwhile course to do, and particularly important when faced with a scenario where someone’s life is at serious risk.

Best,

Tom