Whether it's a two-day Wilderness First Aid training or a month-long Wilderness EMT, courses with NOLS Wilderness Medicine are life-changing. That’s the point, right—to increase your awareness and preparedness for emergencies to happen?
But they can change your life in unexpected ways. Here are some the signs that you're a NOLS graduate or instructor:
1. You pocket nitrile gloves when you’re at the doctor’s office (and not to make hand balloons).
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2. You find yourself sneakily taking your significant other’s and kids’ radial and pedal pulses.
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3. You’ve bought a cow femur from your local butcher to make moulage bones ...
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4. ... and your Halloween makeup skills are the envy of everyone.
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5. You know that SOAP is not just something you find in the average household bathroom.
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6. You’re constantly in “What if” mode.
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7. You’ve been assured at one time or another that yogurt can be applied to every part of the human body to cure absolutely anything and everything.
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8. You profile every person you see in the backcountry (and grocery store checkout line) for their potential to engage you in a medical emergency.
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9. You then make a bet with your like-minded friend on if and when they will do so.
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10. You ask for a portable white board for Christmas ...
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11. ... and get wayyy too excited about dry erase markers.
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12. Your important documents (passport, birth certificate, etc.) are now waterproofed in the heavy-duty plastic bags that wound closure kits come in.
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13. Your friends volunteer you when a flight attendant asks for anyone with medical training ... they get bumped to first class while you work in a confined space.
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14. When someone approaches you and you can’t remember how you know each other, starting the conversation with “So what have you been up to since your course?!” always works.
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15. But most importantly, you kick into action whenever someone is in need ...
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... because that’s what being a NOLS Wilderness Medicine grad is all about.
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Check out our full selection of courses and recertification options here.
Editor's note: Post updated June 9, 2017
