National Wilderness Leadership Institute - NWLI

02/17/2026

Ready to boost your outdoor confidence? Sign up for our Wilderness First Aid course today and be prepared for any adventure. Register now!

02/16/2026

02/16/2026

NWLI is seeking an experienced Operational Medical Director to provide medical leadership, ensure clinical quality, and support efficient healthcare operations. This is a great opportunity for a physician leader looking to make a meaningful impact.

MD or DO
Leadership & clinical experience preferred

Interested? Send your CV to operations@nwli.org or message us for more details.

02/12/2026

Empower yourself and your loved ones! Join our hands-on Wilderness First Aid course and lead with confidence. Register today!

02/12/2026

GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Volunteer search and rescue teams play a critical role in keeping communities safe, often with limited resources. The Ford Bronco “Answer the Call” Grant is offering support to help strengthen response capabilities and close critical equipment gaps.

Through this initiative, three upfitted Ford Bronco SUVs will be awarded to eligible SAR organizations across the U.S.

📅 Applications are due February 28.

Learn more and apply: https://buff.ly/bhjzQMu

This grant is provided by: Ford Motor Company, in collaboration with the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR).

02/12/2026

Good luck to one of our new Instructors Daniel on this adventure, see you when you get back.

02/10/2026

Adventure awaits, but so do risks! Gain peace of mind with our Wilderness First Aid course. Secure your spot now!

02/10/2026

If you are in the DC Metro area contact us if you need an AED. www.nwli.org 571.500.6954

02/10/2026

A new study out of Australia looked at what happened after a statewide EMS system stopped using semi-rigid cervical collars and transitioned to soft collars for trauma patients.

Ambulance Victoria made the switch in 2021. This paper examined downstream effects at a major trauma center.

Here’s what they found:

📊 Imaging & clearance
• CT C-spine rates increased (93.9% vs 88.4%)
• Patients were 4× more likely to have their cervical spine cleared in the ED
• Only 21.6% of patients in soft collars left the ED still immobilized vs 53.2% with semi-rigid collars

🧠 Patient outcomes
• No statistically significant difference in spinal cord injury
• No meaningful difference in pressure sores
• No meaningful difference in hospital-acquired pneumonia

📉 Important limitations
• Not powered to detect very small differences in spinal cord injury.
• Single-center trauma study
• More elderly and fall-related trauma in the soft-collar group

🔎 Why this matters
Read on its own, this study shows that moving away from rigid collars did not lead to worse patient outcomes in a real-world EMS system.

Read alongside The National Association of EMS Physicians - Naemsp Trauma Compendium by Dr. Mike Millin and colleagues, it becomes more interesting.

The NAEMSP paper challenges the long-held assumption that post-injury spinal movement is the primary driver of delayed neurologic injury, and highlights stronger evidence for hypoperfusion, hypotension, and secondary ischemia, while also detailing the very real harms associated with immobilization.

The Australian data doesn’t resolve every question, but it shows what happens when a system acts on that evolving evidence.

No safety signal emerged.
But downstream care changed.

This study doesn’t end the cervical spine debate, but it helps EMS leaders place theory next to practice as they rethink how spinal protection should look in modern prehospital care.

Read the full study here:https://www.handtevy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2024-Australian-Soft-Collar.pdf

02/05/2026