What the heck is WFA, you may be asking? Pronounced "Woofah," it stands for Wilderness First Aid, and it's an essential training for anyone who enjoys hiking or dreams of becoming a hiker. This training equips you with all the necessary skills to feel safe and self-assured in the wilderness.
Maybe you'd like to start hiking but lack the confidence to venture into the woods. You might want to take your kids hiking but feel more secure visiting your local park. Or perhaps you've been hiking solo for years, and after finding yourself in some sticky situations with only the trees and forest animals as company, you're eager to learn new safety skills (this was me three years ago when I attended my first WFA course). Or maybe you've already completed Wilderness First Aid, but it's been over three years, and you want to renew and refresh your skills. If any of these scenarios resonate with you, and if the idea of hiking to a hut in the woods with other outdoor-loving women excites you, then this Women's Wilderness First Aid Course is for you!
My friend Courtney of Wild Maine Med will be teaching this course, and I will be her assistant for the weekend. I will also be taking the course since my WFA certification is up for renewal. Now that I understand the importance of this training, I will be renewing it for as long as I'm hiking, which is as long as I live! Here are the details, provided by Courtney...
Course Details:
Dates: Friday April 4 (flex arrival time) -Sunday April 6 end by 3pm
Location: Megunticook Ski Hut in the Camden Hills
Investment: $400 for the weekend ($280 certification/$120 food and lodging)– includes meals Saturday and Sunday, lodging fees, and SOLO WFA and CPR certification
Accommodations & What to Expect:
For the Women’s Wilderness First Aid Weekend, we’ll be embracing the simplicity and camaraderie of backcountry living in a woodstove heated hut. It's a ~2 mile mellow-incline hike in. From the hut we will be 2 miles from the summit of Megunticook where we can enjoy beautiful ocean views. While we’ll have a warm indoor space to gather, it'll be camping inside the hut, sleeping on your sleeping pad and in your sleeping bag—cozy, but rustic. There is no running water and only an outhouse for bathroom facilities.
Water will come straight from the nearby river, where we’ll filter our drinking water together. All meal planning and purchasing will be included in the weekend investment, but preparing meals will be a communal effort, with everyone pitching in to chop, cook, and clean.
Expect to step away from the usual comforts, lean into the adventure, and leave with both new skills and new friendships.
A Bit About Your Facilitator:
WFA Instructor: Courtney Cronin
I am a Wilderness EMT, SOLO Wilderness Medicine Instructor, and experiential educator with over 20 years of experience leading outdoor-based and international travel programs. My journey with wilderness medicine started at 14 when I took my first WFA course, followed by Wilderness First Responder at 18 and EMT certification at 20. Since then, I’ve worked on a 911-response ambulance in Maine, trained over a hundred indigenous people in Guatemala and Mexico in First Aid and CPR, and certified close to 200 people in WFA in just the past year.
Much of my life has been spent traveling, learning, and leading expeditions—from living on a converted school bus in high school to guiding month-long canoe trips with adjudicated youth through Outward Bound, to customizing service programs in Guatemala with my nonprofit, Rising Minds. More recently, I’ve been traveling with my family, following animal migration routes in Mexico, commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska, and exploring Antarctica.
When not on the road, I’m passionate about facilitating educational immersives, adventure-based programs, and hosting hands-on, engaging Wilderness First Aid courses like this one. My goal is to empower safer adventuring while building a strong community of like-minded women who love the outdoors.
Can’t wait to dive into this experience with you!
Assistant: Jill McMahon
I think you all know my story by now, but you can find my bio here.
Courtney will take a maximum of 12 women for this training on a first-come, first-served basis. Register early to secure your spot. For more questions about this course, email Courtney at wildmainemed@gmail.com. To sign up for the training, link below:
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