The course was held in Christ’s College. It began as a classroom exercise with a healthy mix of discussions and scenarios as we covered the DrABCs (Danger, Airways, Breathing, Circulation). Next we moved on to other common ailments (allergic reactions, chocking, stroke [FAST], heart attack, Diabetes and Hypothermia). Of these, hypothermia was of particular interest! In general, however, our instructor was particularly adept at relating the material we were covering to our interests in the outdoors. We regularly moved outside on to Christ’s Pieces and had some more in-depth scenarios. The course was a useful refresher of familiar first aid practices and introduction to new practices. The outdoor scenarios were particularly useful.

The course was held in Churchill College in Easter Term. Our instructor, Ric, got started right away and we quickly revised all the material from the REC 2 course in the first morning. We then took a break from the class room and used a few scenarios to make sure we had a firm grasp on this foundation material. The afternoon was then spent introducing some new concepts and revisiting others in greater depth. Highlights (for me at least) included learning how to stabilize a broken pelvis, apply traction to a broken femur, and what to do in case of cold injury. The next morning we returned early and spent a little more time in the classroom covering hygiene and snake and insect bites before heading outside of an afternoon of scenarios. These were much more complex than those we encountered in the REC 2 course. I think, all participants will agree these were the highlight of the course. It was great to be able to spend several hours consolidating the skills we had just learnt.

Rose Pearson

The course was held in Girton College. It began as a classroom exercise with a healthy mix of discussions and scenarios as we covered the DrABC’s (Danger, Airways, Breathing, Circulation). Next we moved on to other common ailments (allergic reactions, chocking, stroke [FAST], heart attack, Diabetes and Hypothermia). Of these, Hypothermia was of particular interest! In general, however, our instructor (Angie) was particularly adept at relating the material we were covering to our interests in the outdoors. With this all covered by lunch on the second day, we moved outside and began some more in-depth scenarios. The participants on the course agreed it was a useful refresher of familiar first aid practices and introduction to new practices. In addition, the participants found the outdoor scenarios to be particularly useful. The participants should now have the skills required to respond quickly and safety to any medical incident they are likely to encounter in the hills.

Rose Pearson

Starting from the bunkhouse Nick (the instructor) introduced us to the 4Ds of direction, distance, description and duration. Using these categories Nick got us to implement these in practice in order to navigate and plan our route to the walnar scar track and up to white pike. Repeating this process several times we went across to white maiden before descending attempting (and largely failing) to try and find an old path which crossed our route. On our way up Caw Nick got us to implement our compasses and use bearings to send us in search of ring contours so that we could get a handle on the greater intricacies of map navigation. All members on the course agreed it was a good refresher of previous knowledge as well as an introduction to concepts they had not met before. All participants should be able to guide walks more confidently in future.