A core part of an ISDSI semester is learning about leadership and judgment.  We use hands-on training as well as the NOLS Leadership Skills to help students develop as competent and capable leaders.

Each semesters starts off with a retreat on the second weekend at the Mok Fa Waterfall, part of the Doi Suthep - Doi Pui National Park.  The weekend is a great time for students and instructors to get to know each other, enjoy some time out in nature, and relax.

Mok Fa Waterfall.

We also use the weekend to begin the process of training students in risk management and judgment.  Like any activity, studying on one’s home campus carries with it a set of risks and hazards. Learning and studying abroad has inherent risks associated with it as well, but the risks are different and students don’t have the “street smarts” they would in their home cultures. Because of that we do a number of things during the program, from training sessions to leader-of-the-day, to help students build their ability to make good decisions and lead in a challenging and different environment than their home cultures.

As a part of the weekend, we have modified a leadership tool used by Outward Bound (USA) that they use to train their instructors.  We first learned about how to do this at a workshop “When Judgment Is Crucial: Outward Bound USA’s Instructor Judgment Training” at the Wilderness Risk Management Conference. The basic idea is simple — take a realistic scenario, and then work a group through the options and consequences of decisions.

We start the training session with a discussion of some basic principles of understanding risk, accidents, and how to pull apart a decision to understand its consequences.

Risk, accidents and decision making.

Using these tools allow students to work through the scenario and begin applying a more sophisticated understanding of risk other than a “safe/unsafe” dichotomy.

Notes -- students often end up referring back to these throughout the semester when they are in the position of being leaders-of-the-day.

The students break into groups, and we introduce the scenario — a group of students backpacking through the mountains in Northern Thailand from village to village. This involves understanding objectives hazards of weather and jungle travel, as well as cultural concerns and group dynamics.

Talking over options.

The scenario is very close to the actual Expedition Field Courses they will experience, and is modeled to reflect some of the actual places and people they will meet during the Forests course.

At each point in the scenario where a decision needs to be made, the groups work through what they would do, and then share their decision with the larger group.

Matt sharing his group's thinking on their course of action.

Each group comes up with different solutions to the same set of problems.  Do you stop your group on the trail?  Turn back to the village?

Karen explaining their decision and possible consequences.

The real-life decision modeling is a very powerful way to get students to understand that their decisions have consequences. It is impossible to eliminate all risk and hazards — but it is possible to manage those in a responsible way.

A key thing we learned ourselves on our Wilderness First Responder course.

After the scenario we debrief and reflect on what students have learned — what was surprising, what take away points they want to remember, and how to apply it.

The next day during the retreat we spend the morning putting this into action — first with a “Threats To Life” class on what to do in case of an emergency where someone has gotten hurt, and then with an accident scenario where they work in teams to carry a “patient” out of the jungle with an improvised litter. Aside from being a lot of fun, it brings home how decisions have consequences, and how to be thoughtful and aware in a new culture, environment, and learning context.

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For more on our approach, see “The Objective Hazards of Culture” online (as a PDF), as well as other papers on our Publications page.

Also see our Wilderness First Responder page, with explains a bit about our approach and the training required for ISDSI instructors.

We just finished our WFR Course (Wilderness First Responder).  For some of us this was a recertification, but for others the first time to be trained and certified as a WFR. The course was a lot of work, but really excellent.  We had 20 participants and 2 instructors from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS, Tyson and John.  10 days (and some nights) of lectures, hands-on practice of skills, and lots and lots of scenarios testing our knoweldge and decision making!

For those who don’t know what a WFR is, it is the sort of training that is required for NOLS and Outward Bound Instructors, rangers doing search and rescue in the wilderness, and others. We require our own instructors to be WFR trained as we work in a lot of remote locations, and medical care can be hours or days away at times. The WFR training is very comprehensive, dealing with broken bones, wounds, medical issues, illnesses, how to care for someone with a possible spine or head injury, etc. The key part that is added (and why it is “Wilderness” First Responder) is how to imporvise with limited resources, and how to care for someone over an extended period of time.  Urban EMTs and paramedics usually have their patients to a hospital in minutes, while WFRs need to be able to care for someone over the hours or days until they can reach a hospital.

Tyson and John were able to put together a curriculum that was not only packed with information, but also fun.  Skits and real-life scenarios helped bring the material to life, and helped all of us remember more.  As a teacher I really appreciated that they were able to take some rather grim topics (massive trauma, etc.), and inject it with appropriate humor and fun to make the students remember the lessons and key points.

More information is on our WFR page (including a video!).  We’re already planning a course in two more years.

I just got back from the NOLS Outdoor Educator Backpacking/Sea Kayaking course in Alaska! It was amazing.

Everything was so natural and beautiful. True wilderness. We saw whales, including an orca that came right up to our kayaks, sea otters every day, sea lions, and fished and ate salmon! We camped next to a glacier and could hear the icebergs calving off. During the backpack section we camped on snow (my first time!).

There were so many mosquitoes they flew into our mouths. More mosquitoes than we have in Thailand!

I learned about how to pack my backpack well, good hiking technique, Leave No Trace, bomb proof camping, sea kayaking skills, navigation, and lots of other things. It was amazing to go to the other side of the world and see things I’ve never seen before!

AND the water was a LOT colder than here in Thailand where I usually sea kayak!!

-Pui

I spent 3+ months in the USA, and spent most of my time in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as Michigan.

I spent time at University of Denver, Kalamazoo College, friends’ houses, and had a lot of fun.

I saw my first snow at my friend Amanda’s house, and made a snowman on their deck. It was really cold.  We also traveled in the mountains, and went to the circus, skydiving, and lots of things.  After that I went to Lander, Wyoming, and did a NOLS course as well an internship at their Rock Mountain Branch. The course I did was the Wind River Wilderness for 30 days. I learned a lot about American culture! Different than Karen culture! I did my presentation about herbal medicine in Thailand while other people did presentations on the American wilderness. We did Leave No Trace and lots of backpacking.

It was a great course.

-Toto