EMT Training
Exactly What Is It That an EMT Does?
…Depending on where you live, you may see them every day or just when there’s a fire, police, or medical emergency where you are. Regardless of the frequency with which you see them, you may be wondering — what exactly does an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) do? EMTs are not just “ambulance drivers,” although that’s…
Wilderness First Responder Training
Why Become a Wilderness First Responder?
…For those outdoor education organizations — or for those enthusiasts who live for a well-planned wilderness experience — the inclusion of a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) on the trail brings an additional layer of risk mitigation to any backcountry experience. As for the question posed in the headline above, one of the primary reasons for…
International Expeditions
Cape Fear Academy Students Immerse Themselves in Ecuador’s Culture
…Late last year, the staff at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington, North Carolina, asked for our help in creating a unique and meaningful 10-day, outdoor and adventure-based out-of-country expedition for a handful of its high school students. In particular, Cape Fear’s educational leaders were looking for a diverse destination that would enable their students to…
EMT Training
Hybrid EMT Training Available in Oregon and North Carolina
…This 21-day EMT training includes 10 days of virtual instruction, followed by 11 days of hands-on training in Oregon and North Carolina….
Education Without Walls
Update from NCOAE Spinoff — Education Without Walls
…If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may recall that Education Without Walls (EWOW) began more than a decade ago here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). Today, EWOW has become a successful organization — a self-sustaining not-for-profit complete with its own administrative staff, board of directors, programs, and…
Outdoor Education
Backcountry Guide . . . Outdoor Educator . . . What’s the Difference?
…If you’re considering a career in the field of outdoor education and adventure programming that involves leading groups through remote wilderness areas, your career path will come to a fork in the road where you will face an important choice: Do you want to become a backcountry guide or an outdoor educator? At first glance,…
EMT Training
Meet the EMT Students: Colleen and Justin
…There’s good reason why we precede our three-week Hybrid EMT course with the word “Intensive.” And that’s because our 21-Day “Intensive” Hybrid EMT course enables students to satisfy eligibility requirements for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) and North Carolina State EMT examinations in an expeditious manner. Our course includes 10 days of…
Wilderness Medicine Training
New Thinking about How to Handle Spinal Injuries in Remote Wilderness Settings
…Best practices for evaluating and transporting patients with potential spinal fractures or spinal cord injuries is a hot topic in emergency medicine. And it’s no wonder. All of us who work in the adventure programming and emergency medical services field fervently want to avoid causing or worsening a potentially catastrophic injury to someone’s spinal cord. …
Conferences
2023 Outdoor Industry Conferences for Outdoor Educators
…As we do each year, we are once again taking advantage of this space to inform you about opportunities for you, your staff, and your organization to participate in professional development, networking, and business growth and development available at upcoming outdoor industry conferences. In this edition, we are spotlighting nine events taking place between now…
Student Profiles
Meet the NCOAE Student: Tina Haver Currin, WEMT
…Tina Currin, an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast, recently completed NCOAE’s W-EMT course. Learn more about how her journey led her to us!…
Emergency Medicine
EMTs Come to the Rescue in Natural Disasters
…In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, we discuss the integral role EMT professionals play in supporting communities after natural disasters….
Inspiration
From Couch Potato to Hiker in Just 4 to 6 Weeks
…Apparently, I spent three quarters of last year and a quarter of this year mostly sitting on the couch. I held a beverage in one hand, chips, cheese and crackers in the other (and yes, I can hold that much). Adding new meaning to the term “binge-watching,” I viewed dozens of subtitled, multi-season detective series…
Wilderness Medicine
Managing Mass Casualty Incidents in the Backcountry
…Most people think of wilderness medicine as providing medical care in a remote setting where access to conventional healthcare resources is limited or unavailable. They imagine someone treating a wound, applying a tourniquet, performing CPR, or fashioning a splint out of sticks and a bandana enabling a hiker with a broken leg to hobble to…
EMT Training
Mental Health Issues for Emergency Medical Technicians
…Becoming a full- or part-time Emergency Medical Technician requires extreme and rigorous training, and it’s not a career choice to be taken lightly. That’s because emergency medical responders encounter patients in life-threatening situations, ranging from traumatic incidences of cardiac arrest and auto accidents, to drownings to drug overdoses. EMS techs like the ones we train…
Custom Programs
At NCOAE, We Don’t Cut Cookies — We Plan Dreams
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page.” ~ Saint Augustine On those many occasions when schools, clubs, organizations, or companies ask us to come up with an adventure/education excursion for their group, we don’t reach into a cabinet and pull out a cookie-cutter version of a wilderness…
EMT Training
Thinking About Going to Med School? Start with EMT Training and Certification
…If one of your goals is to apply to medical school and eventually become a doctor, here are a few of the hurdles you’ll need to jump through. First, you’ll need a four-year Bachelor of Science degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA, a passing score on the MCAT exam, and a few glowing letters of…
Outdoor Equipment
When It Comes to Program Backpacks, NCOAE Opts for Osprey
…Here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) we’re not very big on endorsing products or brands. In fact, if you were to research our blog all the way back to the first entry at the end of 2013, you probably won’t find more than two or three posts chatting up products…
Conferences
AEE Announces Spring Regional Conference Lineup
…If you’re interested in advancing your career in outdoor and adventure-based experiential education, you really should attend one of AEE’s 2014 regional conferences. AEE (which stands for Association for Experiential Education) is a professional membership association with roots in adventure education that’s committed to the development, practice, and evaluation of experiential learning in all settings….
Conferences
Plan Now To Attend Outdoor Education Conferences
…If you’re at all interested in a career in outdoor or adventure education and just don’t know where to start, we’re here to tell you that there are whole slew of outdoor education conferences that you can attend – and other things you can do right now – to improve your chance of being hired…
Custom Programs
NCOAE Now Offers Custom Programs
…We’re not sure who said it first but the person who coined the phrase ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ really was onto something. Whether it’s in education, hats, management, or financial services, one size doesn’t fit all, and the same goes for your employee training and teambuilding. That’s why we’re pleased to announce the launch…


