Free Wilderness First Aid Course Online
16+ hours of curriculum time. No paywall, no trial, no signup gate. Add certification when you're ready — $149.
Who This Course Is For
If you spend time in the backcountry — or take other people there — you should know wilderness first aid. This course is built for:
Outdoor guides & instructors
Meet certification requirements for guiding, outdoor education, or camp staff positions.
Backpackers & climbers
Build the skills to handle injuries and illness when you're hours — or days — from a hospital.
Scout & youth trip leaders
Get the training required to lead youth in the outdoors, without burning a weekend on an in-person course.
Search & rescue volunteers
Refresh or build foundational wilderness medicine skills before stepping up to WFR.
Hunters & anglers
Prepare for solo or small-group trips deep into country where help isn't coming fast.
Curious learners
No outdoor job required. If you want to learn wilderness medicine, the whole course is free to audit.
What to Expect
The full Wilderness First Aid curriculum — delivered online, on your schedule. No cohorts, no deadlines, no travel.
Expert-led lessons covering every WFA topic — assessment, trauma, environmental, medical.
Written material that reinforces each video module and goes deeper on protocols.
Practice patient assessment, splinting, bandaging, and spinal immobilization at home.
Short quizzes after each module so you know the material sticks before you move on.
Most students finish in 12–16 hours total, spread across a week or two. Move at your pace — your access never expires.
Course content
Learn wilderness first aid without spending a dime.
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Introduction to Assessment
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Lesson #1: Primary Assessment
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Lesson #2: Secondary Assessment
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Lesson #3: Orthopedic Injury Assessment
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Lesson #4: Spinal Consideration
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Lesson #5: O P Q R S T and S A M P L E
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Lesson #6: Vitals
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Lesson #7: Mental Status
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How-To: Primary Assessment and Head-To-Toe Physical Exam
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Supplemental - Patient Assessment Example
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Review - Assessment
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Cheat Sheet: Assessment Worksheet
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Quiz - Assessment
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Introduction - Trauma
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Lesson #8: Orthopedic Injury Treatment
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How-To: Lower Arm Splinting
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How-To: Upper Arm Splinting
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How-To: Shoulder Stabilization
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How-To: Ankle Stabilization
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How-To: Lower Leg Splinting
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Lesson #9: Head Injury
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Supplemental - Concussion
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Lesson #10: Chest Injury
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Lesson #11: Abdominal Injury
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Lesson #12: Soft Tissue Injury
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Supplemental - Tourniquets
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Lesson #13: Blisters, Burns, and Frostbite
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Supplemental - Burn Scale
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Review - Trauma
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Quiz - Trauma
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Introduction - Medical
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Lesson #14: Chest Pain
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Lesson #15: Shortness of Breath
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Lesson #16: Acute Abdomen
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Supplemental - Urinary Tract Disorders
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Review - Medical
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Cheat Sheet - Medications
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Quiz - Medical
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Introduction - Environmental
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Lesson #17: Bites and Stings
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Lesson #18: Heat and Hydration
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Supplemental - Hydration
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Lesson #19: Hypothermia
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Supplemental - Hypothermia
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Review - Environmental
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Quiz - Environmental
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Course Wrap-Up
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Course Evaluation
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Certification Instructions
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Certification Payment and Video Upload Link
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Support American Outdoor School
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About this course
- $149.00
- 59 lessons
- 5.5 hours of video content
- 6 Supplemental Readings and 2 field cheat sheets
- 6 How-To-Videos
- 5 Quizzes to test your knowledge
How It Works
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Enroll free — No credit card, no trial. Get instant access to all 16+ hours of curriculum time.
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Learn at your own pace — Work through every module: patient assessment, trauma, medical, environmental, decision-making. Watch the videos, take the quizzes, review as often as
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Practice the skills — Follow along with Nathan's step-by-step skills demonstrations. You'll practice bandaging, splinting, patient assessment, and evacuation decisions.
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Get certified ($149) — When you're ready, record yourself performing the skills on video and submit them for review. Nathan evaluates your submission personally. Pass, and you receive your Wilderness First Aid certification, valid for 2 years. The course is always free. The $149 covers proctoring, evaluation, and your credential.
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How American Outdoor School Compares
The other major wilderness medicine schools teach the same material. We teach it online, at your pace, for free — with real instructor review when you're ready to certify.
| American Outdoor School | NOLS | SOLO | WMA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free + $149 cert | ~$275 | ~$295 | ~$395 |
| Format | Online, self-paced | 2-day in-person | 2-day in-person | 2-day in-person |
| Curriculum | Full 16-hr WFA | 16 hours | 16 hours | 16 hours |
| Review material later? | Yes — forever | No | No | No |
| How you're evaluated | Personal video review | In-person practical | In-person practical | In-person practical |
| Travel required | None | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Certification validity | 2 years | 2 years | 2 years | 2 years |
American Outdoor School
- Price
- Free + $149 cert
- Format
- Online, self-paced
- Curriculum
- Full 16-hr WFA
- Review later?
- Yes — forever
- Evaluation
- Personal video review
- Travel
- None
- Valid for
- 2 years
NOLS
- Price
- ~$275
- Format
- 2-day in-person
- Curriculum
- 16 hours
- Review later?
- No
- Evaluation
- In-person practical
- Travel
- Yes
- Valid for
- 2 years
SOLO
- Price
- ~$295
- Format
- 2-day in-person
- Curriculum
- 16 hours
- Review later?
- No
- Evaluation
- In-person practical
- Travel
- Yes
- Valid for
- 2 years
WMA
- Price
- ~$395
- Format
- 2-day in-person
- Curriculum
- 16 hours
- Review later?
- No
- Evaluation
- In-person practical
- Travel
- Yes
- Valid for
- 2 years
Competitor prices approximate and current as of 2026. Verify on each provider's site.
Trusted by Outdoor Leaders, Scouts, and Guides
Course Reviews
Excellent content, great instructor
John Kolman
This is my 6th recertification and my first with American Outdoor School. Also my first online recertification. I learned a lot. New scenarios, a different...
Read MoreThis is my 6th recertification and my first with American Outdoor School. Also my first online recertification. I learned a lot. New scenarios, a different way of looking at problems etc. I felt the material, especially the spinal injury topic, was very up to date with current practices. I wasn’t sure I would like the online approach, but it worked well. I would recommend doing a few modules a day instead of binge-watching
Read Lesswilderness first aid
EDWARD POPIELARSKI
COMPRESHENSIVE, thought provoking
COMPRESHENSIVE, thought provoking
Read LessWilderness First Aid Review
Stratton Tragellis
Course was well designed and easy to follow. Good addition would be padding demonstration for splits. Also how to evacuate a patient who cannot walk out.
Course was well designed and easy to follow. Good addition would be padding demonstration for splits. Also how to evacuate a patient who cannot walk out.
Read LessVery informative
Joseph Nigro
I enjoyed learning this material and picked up some key things I didn't know! I think it served as a great intro with enough detail to get started in wildern...
Read MoreI enjoyed learning this material and picked up some key things I didn't know! I think it served as a great intro with enough detail to get started in wilderness first aid and it gave just enough info so one would know what to do given a situation while out in the wilderness. But please just check the spelling errors littered throughout the presentations - the presentations were great, but the misspellings somehow take away from its authenticity. Thank you.
Read LessVery helpful course
Jason Viehland
I took Nathan's in-person course 3 years ago and this was just as informative as the classroom course. I think in some ways it was more helpful as you can r...
Read MoreI took Nathan's in-person course 3 years ago and this was just as informative as the classroom course. I think in some ways it was more helpful as you can return to the material for a review. The only possible difficulty is finding a willing subject for the practicals. In the classroom, you have each other to practice and learn from but Nathan's descriptions and step-by-step instructions are very helpful. Note bene - last time I took the course, I went on a spring outing with my son's scout troop and a scout cut himself pretty badly and eventually needed stitches. He had some severe bleeding so I followed my training, irrigated the would, applied an ample set of gauze over and around the wound, and taped it up so he could get evacuated to the hostpital. His father later told me that when the ER staff saw his hand, they thought, "What kind of joker dressed this?" because his finger looked like something out of a cartoon. As they took the gauze off and it wound started bleeding profusely again, they said I'd done a good job bandaging him. 5 stitches. Thanks, Nathan!
Read LessCrystal Krumrine
Crystal Krumrine
Great videos, very knowledgable, handouts and having the text to save (I put in a binder) is awesome. Certification was made easy and instructions easy to f...
Read MoreGreat videos, very knowledgable, handouts and having the text to save (I put in a binder) is awesome. Certification was made easy and instructions easy to follow. When I had questions I heard back almost immediately.
Read LessWilderness First Aid
Charles Johnson
What level of effort did you put into the course? 5 How do you feel about your level of skill/knowledge at the end of this course? Very Good What do ...
Read MoreWhat level of effort did you put into the course? 5 How do you feel about your level of skill/knowledge at the end of this course? Very Good What do you think about the instructor's effectiveness as a lecturer/demonstrator Excellent The organization of the course was? Excellent The ability of the course to maintain interest was? Excellent The clarity of the learning objectives was? Excellent The appropriateness of the course workload was? Excellent What aspects of this course were most useful or valuable? The breakdown of each part How would you improve this course? More videos on how to do things
Read LessFrequently Asked Questions
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Is the Wilderness First Aid course really free?
Yes. All 16+ hours of curriculum time are completely free. There is no paywall, no trial, and no signup required to access the material. You only pay if you want the certification credential at the end ($149).
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What does the $149 certification get me?
When you're ready to certify, you record yourself performing wilderness first aid skills on video and submit them for review. Nathan personally evaluates every submission and provides feedback. If you pass, you receive your Wilderness First Aid certification, valid for 2 years — accepted by outdoor employers, scout troops, guide services, and educational organizations nationwide. The $149 covers the proctoring, personal evaluation, and your credential.
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How long does it take to complete the course?
Plan on about 12–16 hours total: 5.5 hours of video, plus readings, practice, and quizzes. Most students complete it over 1–2 weekends, but you can work through it at your own pace — there is no time limit on free access.
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Who teaches the course?
The course is taught by Nathan Duclos, a wilderness medicine instructor with over 20 years of teaching experience in wilderness first aid and wilderness first responder programs.
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Is the certification recognized by employers?
Yes. Our Wilderness First Aid certification is accepted by outdoor employers, scout organizations, guide services, camps, and educational programs across the United States. If you have a specific employer requirement, contact us before purchasing the certification to confirm acceptance.
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What if I don't pass the skills video on my first try?
You can re-record and resubmit your skills video. Nathan will give you feedback on what to improve, and you can practice and try again until you pass. We'd rather see you master the material than rush you through.
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Who do I contact with questions?
Email your questions to [email protected] and we'll get back to you.