Wilderness First Aid: Idaho
Wilderness first aid and CPR taught outdoors in the Payette River corridor, an hour north of Boise. One, two or three days.
Wilderness first aid courses in Idaho, taught outdoors in the Payette River corridor an hour north of Boise. One, two and three day options from $175, all leading to Sierra Rescue International certification with CPR included.
For rafters, hunters, hikers, anglers, guides, camp staff and work crews operating where definitive medical care is more than an hour away. No prior medical training is assumed.
Two ways to book
Join a public course. Payette River corridor courses are hosted and booked through Cascade Raft & Kayak in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.
Book a private course. Outfitters, guide teams, camps, schools and work crews can run a course at their own location anywhere in the United States. Minimum 8 students, maximum 24.
Is this the right course
The question worth answering before you book is how long you would be on your own with a casualty.
- Help arrives in minutes. A standard workplace first aid course covers it. You do not need this.
- Help is an hour or more away, and you are out a day or two at a time. Wilderness first aid. This course, in one, two or three day versions.
- You are responsible for paying clients in the backcountry for weeks at a time. You are likely looking for a Wilderness First Responder, which is a much longer course. Ask and we will tell you straight rather than sell you this one.
Why it is taught outdoors
A standard first aid course assumes help arrives within minutes. In the Idaho backcountry that assumption does not hold. A casualty may require management for hours or overnight, with what is carried, in weather, while the remainder of the group is kept together and a message is relayed from terrain without coverage.
Course content
- Casualty assessment, and doing it again an hour later when the picture has changed
- Extended care over hours or overnight, including keeping a casualty warm, fed and watered
- Improvised splinting, immobilization and litter construction from equipment you are already carrying
- Hypothermia management, the primary complication in cold river country
- Wound management, bleeding control and shock
- Head, spine and chest injuries, and what can reasonably be done about them in the field
- Environmental problems: heat, altitude, lightning, and animal and insect injuries
- Evacuation planning, and the decision of whether to move a casualty or hold position
- Communications and calling for help from terrain with no coverage
- Live scenario practice on outdoor terrain, in whatever weather the day provides
Details
All three are Sierra Rescue International certifications and all three include CPR. The difference is how much scenario time you get and what the card says.
One day, 8 hours, $175
First aid and CPR with a wilderness focus. The usual choice for clubs, camps and work crews who need a current card and a realistic day outdoors.
- Wilderness First Aid Workshop card (WFAW), valid two years
- OSHA-approved Adult, Child and Infant CPR and first aid card, valid two years
- Meets or exceeds the minimum requirement for most workplace first aid and CPR needs
Two days, 16 hours, $255
The standard wilderness first aid certification, and the one most guide services and outdoor programs ask for.
- 16 hour Sierra Rescue International Wilderness First Aid card, valid three years
- CPR, AED and standard first aid certification following American Heart Association guidelines, valid two years
- Meets the Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative minimum of 16 in-person hours for the WFA core topics
Three days, 24 hours
An extension of the 16 hour course with substantially more scenario and lab time. Worth it if you are leading trips rather than joining them, or if your evacuation times run long.
- 24 hour Sierra Rescue International Wilderness First Aid card
- CPR, AED and standard first aid certification included
- Price on request
Where and when
- Location: Payette River corridor, approximately one hour north of Boise
- Season: April to September
- Prerequisites: none, and no prior medical training is assumed
What to bring
The course runs outdoors in the Payette River corridor, so dress for the day you are given.
- Outdoor clothing you do not mind kneeling, lying and crawling in
- A rain layer and a warm layer, whatever the forecast says
- Sturdy footwear
- Any first aid kit you normally carry, so we can work with your equipment rather than ours
- Food, water and sun protection for a full day outdoors
- A notebook and pen
Training equipment, casualty simulation materials and course materials are provided.
Certification and standards
All of our wilderness medicine courses lead to Sierra Rescue International certification.
- Follows the Wilderness Medicine Education Collaborative Standards for Wilderness Medicine Certifications
- Skills and techniques presented according to Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines
- CPR and AED components follow American Heart Association and OSHA standards
- Taught by a Sierra Rescue Instructor Trainer, the level certified to train and assess the instructors who teach these courses
If your employer, insurer or program accreditation specifies a wilderness first aid standard, this is the paperwork that satisfies it. Ask and we will send the curriculum outline before you book.
You leave with your Sierra Rescue International card and your CPR card, both processed by us. Cards are issued for the hours you actually completed, so an 8, 16 or 24 hour course is recorded as such rather than as a generic pass.
Who takes this course
- Raft guides and private boaters
- Hunters, anglers and backcountry hikers
- Packrafters and kayakers
- Outdoor education staff and camp leaders
- Search and rescue volunteers
- Utility, agency and field crews working in remote locations
Instructors
Courses are led by Tren Long, an Instructor Trainer for Rescue 3 International and Sierra Rescue and a 2019 recipient of the Higgins & Langley Memorial Award. Additional courses are delivered by Merle Long, who instructs in both the United States and Australia.
What students say
I’ve taken this course 7 or 8 times and I feel that Tren has been the most relaxed, relatable instructor I’ve had. Very helpful and real world examples to teach.
Howard P., regional utility crew, April 2026
Best first aid class I’ve attended, and I’ve been in many over past 45 years.
Wade B., Wilderness First Aid, May 2026
Great instructor. I really appreciated him sharing his real life experiences in relation to the course material. Many of our work locations are remote and this training would be a benefit to our co-workers.
Ryan M., regional utility crew, April 2026
Across 135 written evaluations from wilderness first aid courses run March to May 2026, instructor ratings were almost uniformly the top mark and every student who answered said they would refer the course to a friend.
Group and crew delivery
Outfitters, guide teams, agencies and camps can arrange private courses on the Payette or at their own location anywhere in the United States.
Not seeing a date that works?
We add dates through the season, and we put courses on where there is enough demand. Tell us what you need and where, and we will email you when it is scheduled. If you have eight or more, we can usually run a course at a time and place that suits you.