to our world. - NOLS

NOLS IS THE SKILLS SCHOOL.
Be prepared to use your NOLS skills for the rest of your life. Below: NOLS grad Shane Young dropped what he
was doing and went to Haiti to provide aid after the 2010 earthquake.
Photos courtesy of Shane Young
A CONVERSATION WITH SHANE YOUNG
Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, wilderness firefighter, and humanitarian; WEMT '09
An Eagle Scout and captain of his high school track and field team, Shane Young
has always been a leader. After graduating from Georgetown University in 2008,
Shane spent a year camping and backpacking, culminating with a Wilderness Emergency
Medical Technician (WEMT) course with the Wilderness Medicine Institute of
NOLS in 2009. As fate would have it, he was newly trained when a devastating earthquake
struck weeks later in Haiti. Shane credits NOLS for instilling in him the skills
and confidence to drop everything to go to Haiti and “be useful.” After this experience,
he now feels even more prepared for his next adventure as a wilderness firefighter.
What was most memorable about your
WEMT course? “The most memorable
part was the mass casualty rescue scenario,
a plane crash, especially because of the
real-life makeup and the fact that some of
the ‘patients,’ who were fellow students,
were amazing actors, making us truly believe
they were injured.”
What technical skills did you transfer to
your volunteer work in Haiti? “Even arriving
three weeks after the quake, I applied
nearly all of my WEMT skills. I took the
lead in establishing a safe and clean location
outside a damaged hospital building
where we could treat patients; set up all
the supplies and equipment such as medications,
bandages and gloves; triaged patients
as they arrived on site; instructed
them on keeping hydrated in the hot environment;
dealt with major wound care;
and had considerable leeway to diagnose
and treat due to my WEMT skills.”
If there was a single experience in Haiti that
left you feeling truly rewarded, what would
that be? “When I arrived in Haiti, I found
an amazing sandwich vendor and started
buying lunch from him. On day one, the
money in my pocket bought me one sixinch
sandwich. On day 30, after I had
administered to the medical needs of the
vendor and several of his family members,
I was able to buy a 15-inch sandwich and
three sodas for the same price. Plus, I am
now the vendor’s newborn child’s godfather.
My NOLS training was the bridge
to this new friendship.”
Would you recommend NOLS to others, and
why? “Of course! At NOLS, you find
yourself learning alongside others with
similar interests in the outdoors, and in
my case, classmates who were interested
in knowing how to rescue someone in the
backcountry. But above all, the teachers—
who included people who had worked at
high altitude camps on Denali and Everest—had
firsthand knowledge and experience
and were truly inspiring. I can’t
imagine anyone better to learn from.”
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