Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Readiness Training

Are You Prepared?

No ambulance. No hospital. No helicopter. Miles from the nearest road. Hours, perhaps days away from help. No rescue is coming. What are you going to do?

Who Are Our Classes For?

Avid campers, fishers, hunters, boaters, hikers, Boy Scout leaders, Park Rangers, people involved in missionary work, or anyone who wants to prepare for time in the wilderness.

Wilderness First Aid (WFA)

Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is a 16-hour course that teaches the basic information related to the care of a sick or injured person in the back country. This is a SOLO course with a national certification that last 2 years.


Course scheduled in 2023

February 7, 9 & 11, 2023

Tuesday and Thursday night from 6p – 10p and then all day on Saturday 9a – 5p.

March 24 & 25, 2023

Friday and Saturday, 9a – 5p.

April 21 & 22, 2023

Friday and Saturday, 9a – 5p.

May 12 & 13, 2023

Friday and Saturday, 9a – 5p.

Cost – $250.00

Wilderness EMT Module

The Wilderness EMT (WEMT) module is a 40-hour course for people who are already EMTs or concurrently taking an EMT-Basic course. Successful participants will be certified as a WEMT, which is the premier certification for those who would like to work in the back country.

We offer this course to current EMT students at Great Lakes EMS Academy and for all people licensed as EMTs.

The WEMT module is scheduled for the following days, 9a – 5p.


May 22nd (Monday) thru May 26th (Friday) 2023 9a – 5p. We are looking at having this held at a local camping site. Overnight camping is not required. But it will be fun!


Cost – $750.00

Wilderness First Responder

The Wilderness First Responder Course (WFR) is a SOLO certification course. This certification is often a requirement for working for outdoor guide companies, national park service, or white water rafting leaders. Our course begins with an online component that is the same online course that Great Lakes EMS Academy uses in their Medical First Responder Course. This part of the course does have some time in the classroom for short discussions and skills training. During the class, students will take the wilderness component along with the Wilderness EMT students. To be clear, this is not a course that will allow you to be a licensed MFR in the State of Michigan. We only schedule one a year.

Course schedule for 2022

The course starts on February 3, 2023. That is when students will start completing online assignments through JB Learning. This schedule is flexible with some "hard" due date throughout course.


February 24th, 2023, 10a – 4p.

Basic Airways and CPR

March 10th, 2023, 10a – 4p.

Trauma Scenarios

April 7, 2023, 10a – 4p.

Medical Scenarios

May 22nd (Monday) thru May 26th (Friday) 2023 9a – 5p. We will complete the wilderness medicine training with the WEMTs. We are looking at having this held at a local camping site. Overnight camping is not required. But it will be fun!


Cost – $1,200.00

Dorsey College

2620 Horizon SE, Suite 200. We are located on the north side of the building

Great Lakes Wilderness Emergency Response Training teaches many of their courses out of the Dorsey College campus in Grand Rapids Michigan. During the late spring and summer courses, we try to move the courses to a park in Kent or Ottawa County. Participants will know the location of the course far before the date of the course.