In-Person Course
From Clinic to Trailhead:
Identifying and Treating Immediate Life Threats
About the Course
This 1-day (.8 CEU) outdoor course provides PTs, PTAs, and OTs with strategies for leadership and patient care when encountering serious trauma or illnesses in remote backcountry locations.
Realistic hands-on scenarios will be used to help participants leverage their clinical skills to identify and provide intervention for a variety of potentially life-threatening conditions. The scenarios will be based on the presenters’ experiences providing point-of-contact backcountry patient care as PTs in the U.S. National Park Service, Jenny Lake Rangers in Wilderness Search and Rescue, Wildland Firefighting, and on the frontline during military deployments.
Your will learn to:
use your training and clinical skills to provide leadership during serious medical emergencies.
use your knowledge of anatomy and physiology to provide field management of life-threatening conditions including acute bleeding, brain trauma, respiratory distress, blood sugar emergencies, drug overdose and anaphylaxis.
apply your manual skills for acute stabilization and management of fractures and dislocations.
package and transport inured people across rough terrain.
APTA WY PT CEUs are issued upon completion. This course is not part of a certification.
Date and Location:
July 11, 2026 (8am-5pm)
Mike Yokel Park, Jackson, Wyoming
CEUs:
.8 CEU (8 contact hours) are issued upon completion.
Course Fee:
APTA Members: $400
Non-Members: $450
This 1-day (.8 CEU) outdoor course provides PTs, PTAs, and OTs with strategies for leadership and patient care when encountering serious trauma or illnesses in remote backcountry locations.
Realistic hands-on scenarios will be used to help participants leverage their clinical skills to identify and provide intervention for a variety of potentially life-threatening conditions. The scenarios will be based on the presenters’ experiences providing point-of-contact backcountry patient care as PTs in the U.S. National Park Service, Jenny Lake Rangers in Wilderness Search and Rescue, Wildland Firefighting, and on the frontline during military deployments.
This 1-day (.8 CEU) outdoor course provides PTs, PTAs, and OTs with strategies for leadership and patient care when encountering serious trauma or illnesses in remote backcountry locations.
Realistic hands-on scenarios will be used to help participants leverage their clinical skills to identify and provide intervention for a variety of potentially life-threatening conditions. The scenarios will be based on the presenters’ experiences providing point-of-contact backcountry patient care as PTs in the U.S. National Park Service, Jenny Lake Rangers in Wilderness Search and Rescue, Wildland Firefighting, and on the frontline during military deployments.
Meet the Instructors
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DJ, Mike, Karen, Darren, & Paul
WILDERNESS PT EDUCATORS
The Wilderness Physical Therapy Educators are seasoned PT clinicians and professional educators with extensive experience delivering care in austere environments as Physical Therapists and Wilderness EMTs. Their backgrounds stem from US National Park Service backcountry rangers, climbing rangers, search and rescue coordinators, and combat-zone medical providers, . Together, they bring field-tested expertise across rugged terrain, extreme environmental conditions, and high-stakes patient care from the Tetons to the front lines. The Wilderness PT Educators combine decades of clinical practice with firsthand experience in austere patient care to prepare students for real-world challenges beyond the walls of the clinic.
