Wilderness Medicine
SOAP Notes Keep Wilderness Medicine Clean
…NCOAE‘s SOAP Notes can help you keep your emergency wilderness medical care thorough and organized, keep reading to learn more!…
Wesley Hawkins
Wesley is an assistant instructor at NCOAE with experience in backpacking, rock climbing, whitewater canoeing and camp craft….
Carrie Kraft
Carrie Kraft is a field instructor and rafting guide at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). With more than 15 years of experience of leading trips and guiding activities within the outdoor education sector of the outdoor industry, Carrie admits to having an enormous passion for sharing her love of wilderness with…
Wilderness Medicine
Evaluating Neurovascular Function in the Backcountry
…When it comes to emergency medicine — whether in an urban setting or the backcountry — swift and accurate assessments play a pivotal role in determining the severity and progression of an injury and deciding the best course of action. The decisions you make regarding treatment, evacuation, and transportation in cases of non-obvious threats to…
Emergency Medicine
EMT Health and Fitness: How to Stay Physically Strong and Mentally Sharp
…For EMT’s, caring for ourselves often comes second to caring for others. Here are a few tips to help you take better care of your physical and mental well-being….
Clifton Bannerman
With extensive field experience in emergency medical services, Clifton Bannerman serves as an EMT Instructor at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). Clifton, who was born and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina, brings a wealth of experience to his role. From working as a paramedic with Novant Health New Hanover Emergency Medical…
Paige Shogi
Paige Shogi is an EMT Instructor at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE), where she a unique blend of medical and educational experience to the team.Hailing from Hickory, North Carolina, Paige is also full-time paramedic in New Hanover County, NC. She previously worked as an EMT in Hickory, NC, where she built…
David Bullard
…With more than a quarter of a century of Fire EMS and Public Safety experience, David Bullard serves as the EMT Training Program Director at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). Born and raised in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, David’s experience ranges from being a firefighter and paramedic, to posts as fire captain…
Wilderness Medicine
Managing Fatalities in Wilderness
…In the safety and comfort of the modern world, we often forget that the natural world can be a dangerous, unforgiving, and uncaring place. For many of us who love wilderness and the backcountry, that’s large part of its attraction. We choose to explore areas where some fear to go, and we participate in activities…
Wilmington-based Outdoor And Adventure Education Center Earns Accreditation
By Staff Reports The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) has been awarded full accreditation by Cognia, a nonprofit organization recognized globally for its commitment to continuous improvement and educational excellence, according to a news release. Based in Wilmington, NCOAE launched its first courses in Pisgah National Forest in 2009. The organization creates…
Emily Elkins
Emily Elkins is a Field Instructor at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she brings over seven years of experience guiding and teaching in the outdoors. A certified interpretive guide, she is passionate about helping students connect more deeply with the natural world and themselves through immersive…
Phillip Groves
…Phillip Groves was one of the first EMT instructors hired at NCOAE and he has served as an assistant course director….
Forms & Resources
Registered NCOAE course and training participants need to complete and return the necessary forms before they begin their course or training….
Our Core Values
NCOAE was founded to support a world shaped by people and institutions who are naturally inclined to serve one another….
Backcountry Prep
How and Why to Remove Junk Food from Your Backpack
…“What’s fructose? What’s GMO? What do these words mean? These are some of the questions my 9-year-old daughter asked me last June as the family shopped for good snacks for a backpacking trip. By July, my daughter had vowed to stop eating food with “junk” in it. And to date, she has kept her word….
Risk Management
Safety in the Backcountry: Deciding When to Bail on a Trip or Adventure
…“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” ~ Charles Bukowski When it comes to just about every worthwhile pursuit, the more you put into it, the more you get out. In the context of human-powered outdoor adventures, especially those that test your metal, that means pushing the limits and, for those…
Stephen Mullaney
Stephen is our lead instructor, trainer and educator for both the staff and the clients of NCOAE….
Adult Courses
The Women’s Wilderness Initiative Places the Emphasis on Unwind
Here at the National Center for Outdoor and Adventure Education (NCOAE), we’re especially proud of our Women’s Wilderness Initiative, which enables women of nearly all ages to ditch the spouse, the kids, the job and the college coursework for a full seven days and — instead of all that — focus on themselves. Notice we…
Wilderness Cooking
The Pan That Started A Backcountry Cooking Revolution
…They say man only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make things stop. To that short list, we’d like to add the Banks Fry-Bake Pan — a truly lightweight frying pan that’s perfect for cooking — and baking — in the backcounry. Fact is we take at least one…
Training & Certifications
A More Convenient Way To Receive Wilderness First Responder Training
…It’s a well-known fact that one outdoor education industry standard for trip leaders, wilderness guides and backcountry educators who work on multi-day expeditions, is that you have to have a current and up-to-date Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training. How you satisfy that requirement is up to you. Traditionally, the only way to earn the WFR…


