I am Weefur!

During the course, we spent 9 days of training to be Wilderness First Responders. Or as the wilderness folk call it "woofer". We learned everything from CPR to building traction splints for mid-femur fractures. Throughout the process we did a number of scenarios that were designed to help us refine our patient assessment skills and properly diagnose problems. Each scenario was intended to be as real as possible, so there was a lot of stage make-up involved. During the certification we had a couple night simulations, to test our skills in the dark. I was one of the lucky chosen patients for one night session. The "secret" plan was that I would trip and fall on our way to find the "patient", but then I would end up being the patient. During the day that day, they bloodied up my leg and wrapped a stick to my shin, to make it appear as though I had a fracture. What I didn't know, was that another member of my group had been pulled aside to "have a seizure". Needless to say, I thought the guy really was having a seizure and I couldn't even help because I had a full-leg splint on and was supposed to be acting really hurt. It was a really good way to help prepare us for what might happen in real life.

Anyways, one of my instructors was a guy from North Carolina that I could have sworn came straight from his surf board off the beaches of California or something. He commonly used the phrases "that's bomber" and "right on dude". But, he had also spent a lot of time in Spanish countries teaching WFR courses. He of course taught them in Spanish, but he would joke about how they would run around saying, "I am Weefur" in their Spanish accents. Every time you approach a patient you must tell them that you are a Wilderness First Responder and ask for their permission to treat them. So, it became a funny thing for us to do to pretend we were Spanish and tell our patients, "I am weefur". It sounds disrespectful, but it was done all in good fun.

And of course, at the end when we had all passed our exams we disclaimed in unison, "We are Weefur!"

Oh and just so you all know, I'm no doctor. I just know how to make patients more comfortable in the woods until further medical assistance can be gotten to. But, if you ever have a shoulder dislocation I can totally fix that for you.