Expedition Skills – Explorer

What WMT says

Expedition Skills is a camping based multi-disciplinary 7-day collaborative training event delivered by WMT, Fieldskills and Land Rover Experience at Eastnor Castle, Ledbury. Our aim is to deliver a solid base of expedition-proven skills from the UK’s three leading training providers of off road driving/bush mechanic training, jungle/forest expedition training and expedition medical training (Far From Help). It starts mid-day on Monday and concludes at 5.30pm on Sunday. No previous experience is required. This fun, in-depth course is ideal for expedition leaders, film crews, conservationist, teachers, soldiers, overland drivers and anyone planning an adventurous expedition, especially if it’s vehicle based. Expeditions Skills could also be your ticket to building your CV with a view to working professionally in the ecotourism and adventure travel industry. Alternatively, join us for an exciting “working” holiday to extend your wilderness knowledge! Far From Help (last 2 days) can be booked on its own.

What students say

Great – all of it. Lot’s of humour, real examples.
An excellent, informative and useful course. Thank you v. much!
Relaxed and informative – never boring!
Excellent in presenting a lot of content in an interesting way.
Was glad of lots of [teaching] styles.
Superb – good humour & clear instructions.
Handled questions well – good demos.
Not enough biblical preaching and snake handling!

Who can attend?

No prior experience is required and anyone without any prior expedition, driving or remote medical training is welcome to attend. Expedition Skills represents a rare opportunity to learn a valuable combination of skills from three teams of experts on one, seamless course.

What’s broadly covered on Expedition Skills?

The course days are divided as follows:
- Fieldskills forest and jungle training – first 2.5 days (arrive noon)
- Land Rover Experience off road driving/bush mechanic training – days 4-5
- WMT Far From Help module – days 6-7

The Expedition Skills Team

It takes a big team of experts to deliver a course of this breadth and calibre. Jungle expert Dom Hall of Fieldskills will lead the first part of the course. He has an impressive jungle expedition CV. The vehicle based component of the course is directed by our great colleagues at Land Rover Experience (LRE) including Chris Bartlett. Dave Gunning, a former LRE instructor, is our bush mechanic expert. The final medical modules are delivered by WMT’s brilliant instructors including WMT Medical Director Dr Jon Dallimore and travel health expert Matron James Moore. The breadth of the course is matched by the seamlessness in the manner in which it’s delivered.

Detailed content; skills & techniques

Fieldskills training
· Outdoor safety, sanitation and hygiene
· Establishing an expedition camp
· Safe use and maintenance of knife and saw
· Safe use and maintenance of axe & machete
· Tree felling considerations
· Wilderness fire making techniques
· Collection, purification and transportation of water
· Bush navigation
· Expedition catering
· Jungle camping systems
· Equipment considerations and maintenance
· Wilderness emergency procedures
· Expedition planning & preparation
· Risk assessments
· Crisis management plans
· Wildlife hazards

Land Rover Experience – Level 1 Off-road driving Skills/combined bush mechanic training, including bonus elements from Land Rover’s Level 2 and winching courses
· Route planning
· Manoeuvring
· Ruts & tracks
· Crossing ditches
· Mud & wet grass (weather permitting)
· Steep inclines and gradients
· Convoy techniques
· Introduction to winching
· Basic recovery techniques

The bush mechanic training emphasizes the following:

1. Vehicle maintenance is paramount as ‘prevention is better than cure’
– a brief description on service and care, also what to look for on choosing your vehicle

2. Understanding the anatomy of a vehicle leads to understanding how it works which
leads to the ability to fault find
– a walk and crawl around how a vehicle works and what does what

3. Knowing how to fault find (i.e. what’s wrong with a vehicle) means correct
assistance can be requested or a repair can be made
– once you have an idea of a problem then you know if it is terminal or you can continue with care

4. When absolutely necessary and there is no other option but to get your vehicle
going again, a little confidence and inspiration can go a long way towards enabling safe
improvisation
– knowing what can be used to fix what and understanding the properties of the materials needed

Far From Help – research led syllabus

A Royal Geographical Society study of 1263 medical complaints on expedition found that more than half (51%) were classified either as gastrointestinal upsets (30%) or medical problems (21% – infections, headache, malaria etc.). So there’s more than dramatic broken bones and sucking chest wounds to deal with! Minor illnesses left untreated, especially diarrhoea, can slow a whole team down, reduce productivity and enjoyment and threaten the success of an expedition.

What’s covered on FFH?

In short, FFH will help you deal with the most common problems that are identified by this RGS research and you’ll learn a range of medical skills and techniques, about the treatment of infections, illness and symptoms and how to treat injuries and special problems. See the Far From Help course page for more details and course photos. The subjects covered are as follows.

Day 1
Introductions
Aims of course
Legal considerations
Expedition medical planning – includes anti-malarials and immunisations
Diagnosis – taking a history
Group work – examples of history taking
Measuring vital signs and examination of chest and abdomen
Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation – latest guidelines
Shock
ABC approach to injured casualties – practical
Moving, lifting and straightening a casualty
Soft tissue injuries and burns

Day 2
Head, neck, chest and abdominal injuries
Fractures, dislocations and use of splints
Common medical conditions. Management of diarrhoea
Cold injuries and altitude sickness
Practical – examining eyes and ears
Tropical problems – heat illness, malaria, bites and stings
Medical kits and supplies

Skills & Techniques

You’ll learn how to perform a physical examination, measure vital signs (e.g. blood pressure) and take a medical history from a patient. Examination + history = diagnosis, then treatment. Plus you’ll learn about improvised splinting, using neck collars and managing spinal injuries, examining eyes and ears, resuscitation in the wilderness and using a stethoscope.

Treating Infections, Illness & Symptoms

First aid courses mainly focus on dealing with injuries but people get ill on expeditions too. You’ll learn how to treat or manage a variety of illnesses and infections such as malaria, diarrhoea, wound infections, asthma and other important, common conditions of the heart, lungs, ears, nose and throat, water works and the gut. Symptom control is vital and you’ll also learn how to control or reduce fever, pain and nausea even if you don’t know what the underlying cause is.

Treating Injuries & Special Problems

FFH covers strains, sprains and fractures and other traumatic injuries, in addition to wounds, burns, frostbite, mountain sickness, some tropical diseases, bites and stings, rabies and shock.

Prescription Medications

You can read about using prescription antibiotics, Diamox (for high altitude) or strong pain killers in text books but the problem remains of how to obtain these supplies, how to use them appropriately taking into account allergies, contra-indications between medicines (taking more than one at a time) and your legal position. FFH training eliminates all these concerns. We’ll tell you what medical supplies to take and authorise you to purchase them. Our comprehensive field manual serves as an aide memoire in the field so you prescribe safely and we thoroughly cover the legal considerations on each course.

Fees

The full course fee in 2011 was £720 and fully inclusive of meals, camping and materials, use of specialist group equipment, course notes/manuals, all instruction and use of Land Rover vehicles and associated equipment. VAT is also included.