Courses Offered
Approach Outdoor Education offers courses that provide official certificates upon successful completion, as well as a number of non-certificate workshops and informational courses. Courses are offered in English or French.
We also offer guided hiking, backpacking and horseback riding trips in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Please contact us with any questions you may have.
Certificate Courses:
Wilderness & Remote First Aid
(32 up to 44 Hours)
A comprehensive program for those who live, work and play in the Canadian wilderness. Students are prepared with the skills and knowledge to care for illnesses and injuries and promote recovery when you are hours, or even days, away from emergency medical aid. An excellent program for Scouts, Guides, outfitters, employees working in remote locations, campers, hikers, hunters, and others who enjoy wilderness recreational activities.
No previous experience is required. This emergency response training includes patient assessment, musculoskeletal and soft tissue injuries, splinting, and a variety of other topics. Providing primary care in bad weather with non-standard equipment and coping with long term care and emergency response: Wilderness First Aid places these issues first and foremost. Lecture and discussion, practical exercise and outdoor scenarios help students gain confidence, and encourage the development of critical decision making skills.
Wilderness & Remote First Responder
(77 Hours)
WFR introduces you to back-country medicine and wilderness medical protocols. Specifically designed for the unique demands of remote settings, this course focuses on three areas. First, how to treat injuries when you are hours or days from a hospital. Second, you will learn how to give care in extreme environments of cold, heat, or altitude. Finally this course focuses on working with limited equipment and improvising. The course highlights preventative measures for environmental challenges and over use injuries.
Emergency First Aid (8 hours) / OFA 1 (BC)
Red Cross Emergency First Aid teaches participants how to think, react and improvise when dealing with life threatening emergencies. The course includes detailed information and interactive demonstrations of how to respond to airway, breathing and circulation emergencies for adults, children and infants; bleeding emergencies; and shock. In addition, participants will learn how to complete a secondary assessment.
Standard First Aid
(16 Hours)
Red Cross Standard First Aid is a more comprehensive First Aid course which covers all areas included in the Emergency First Aid course plus teaches participants how to respond to head and spine injuries, musculoskeletal injuries, soft tissue injuries, sudden medical conditions, poisons, and how to move and transport the injured.
First Responder
(44 Hours)
First Responder is a comprehensive 44-hour course designed for "first responders" - those individuals most likely to be the first rescuers on the scene of an emergency. The program reflects the latest advances in first aid and CPR. First Responder provides professional rescuers with the information and skills they need to respond to medical emergencies with confidence and care.
More Than Advanced First Aid:
First responders need more than advanced first aid training. They must also become "critical thinkers" -ready to put their skills into action at a moment's notice. First Responder course participants will learn about the following:
- Assessing and securing an emergency scene, making critical decisions
- Oxygen administration, airway insertion, breathing devices
- Baseline vitals, such as blood pressure and pulse rate
- All levels of basic cardiac life support (CPR)
- Enhanced secondary survey
- Musculoskeletal and soft tissue injuries, burns, heat and cold emergencies
- Spinal boards, splints, cervical collars, and other specialized equipment
- Moving and transportation skills
- Emergency childbirth
- Assisting when paramedics arrive
Hands on Practice Sessions Tailored to the Participant's Needs: Participants develop and perfect life saving skills through hands-on practice sessions with equipment common to most EMS services. You also have the option of training with the equipment which is available in your own department. Ensure that you or your employees are "critical thinkers" with the skills and confidence to respond to emergencies effectively, professionally and with care. Offer them the Red Cross' First Responder program.
CPR Courses
(4 to 8 Hours)
CPR courses teach participants how to recognize and responding to cardiovascular emergencies. The courses also detail how to access the Emergency Medical System, and provide rescue breathing and treatment for conscious and unconscious choking situations. Red Cross CPR courses follow the guidelines as agreed upon by the Canadian Emergency Cardiac Care Coalition. There are four levels of CPR:
- CRR A - Adult CRR
- CPR B - Adult, Child and Infant CPR
- CPR C - Adult, Child, Infant and 2-Rescuer CPR
- CPR D - Child and Infant CPR
Automated external defibrillation training can be included in any of the above courses EXCEPT CPR Level D.
Child Care First Aid
(16 to 20 Hours)
Child Care First Aid is a Red Cross First Aid course designed for people who care for children: parents, nannies, teachers, or home care providers. This course is recognized by the Alberta Social Services Department.
Oxygen Administration
(2 to 4 Hours)
This course familiarizes participants in the use of resuscitation masks and oxygen equipment for both breathing and non-breathing casualties. It does not certify or license participants in the administration of oxygen.
Automatic External Defibrillation (AED)
(4 to 6 Hours)
Defibrillation is a process in which an electronic device, called an automated external defibrillator, or AED, helps re-establish normal contraction rhythms in a heart that is not beating properly. It does this by delivering an electric shock to the heart.
Early CPR is an integral part of providing lifesaving aid to people suffering sudden cardiac arrest. The ventilation and compression skills learned in a CPR class help to circulate oxygen-rich blood to the brain. After delivering a series of three electric shocks, the typical AED will prompt the operator to continue CPR while the device continues to analyze the patient. This course trains individuals on the safe and effective use of Automated External. It does not certify or license participants in the utilization of AED.
ATV Rider Course
Knowing all you can about your ATV and the places you can ride is the best preparation for safe and enjoyable riding.
Riding an All Terrain Vehicle safely is the primary focus presented in this course. Whether an ATV is being used in an industrial (workplace) environment or for recreational purposes, safe-riding practices must be followed in order to achieve the desired end result. While riding an ATV may look easy and fun (and it certainly can be that), there are four factors that must be taken into account when operating one. They are: (1) personal ability of the rider, (2) planned task or job, (3) size and capability of the ATV, and (4) the environmental and terrain conditions under which the operation will take place.
The ATV Rider Course is a nationally recognized program, developed by the Canada Safety Council, for the benefit of both industrial and recreational ATV operators. Completion of this course has become mandatory in many major companies for employees and sub-contracted personnel who use an ATV on the job site. Safety officers and administrators are encouraged to ensure that all staff members who use this type of equipment complete an ATV Rider Course at least every three years, as part of their due diligence in the promotion of corporate safety.
The All Terrain Vehicle Rider Course is a one-day program designed to train the operator in the safe and efficient use of an all terrain vehicle. The course includes both classroom and practical training, with the greatest emphasis on operational skills. The training program operated by Canadian Safety Council certified instructors. The curriculum, which is based on field-tested techniques, provides a fun and orderly way to learn proper ATV operation. The rider learns about controls, reading terrain, turning and climbing hills.
A separate ATV Rider's Course is also available for children under the age of 14 whose parents specifically permit them to ride ATVs. A signed consent form is required from the parent or legal guardian and they must also attend the course at all times. No child will be allowed to ride without written parental consent and without the parent or legal guardian present.
Other Programs Offered
First Aid for Older Adults
(4 Hours)
First Aid for Older Adults is a Red Cross workshop which focuses on healthy life-styles and accident prevention. Developed for people in the 55 + age range, it teaches participants how to deal with medical emergencies and accidental injuries.
First Aid for Snowmobilers
(4 Hours)
This Red Cross course is designed for people who are active in the high-risk sport of snowmobiling. It is designed to give them the tools and confidence they need to respond to emergencies that may occur while out on a snowmobile.
Preventing Disease Transmission
(2 Hours)
This Red Cross workshop educates participants about how diseases are transmitted. It includes how to protect against disease transmission, how to minimize the chances of exposure, and what to do if exposure occurs.
First Aid Basics
(3 Hours)
An introduction to first aid or a refresher, the First Aid Basics course teaches participants how to perform a primary and secondary assessment, rescue breathing, bleeding management, and how to respond to unconsciousness, shock, burns, poisons, medical conditions, bone and joint injuries, and head and spinal injuries. Please note that CPR is not included in this level.
Basic Survival Workshop
(8 Hours)
Survival is understanding what might go wrong and preparing for it in a forthright and intelligent manner. An unexpected storm, minor injury or illness, or a simple mistake may be all it takes to find yourself spending the unexpected night out. Our basic survival course will help you prepare and survive the unexpected with new knowledge and a few well chosen items. Depending on the depth and content our Basic Survival Course can be taught in either four or eight hours. It can be added to any of our courses or taught as a "stand-alone" workshop; contact our office for details.
Bear Aware Safety Program
(4 to 6 Hours)
In an effort to counter the seemingly endless hysteria surrounding bears and bear attacks, Bear Awareness Safety Program aim to keep both people and bears safe by teaching people how to prevent unwanted bear encounters. Chock full of practical tips , this program attempts to tackle the problem of nuisance bears by dealing with the human behaviour that brings people and bears into conflict.
Last Updated December 18, 2008