Flagstaff Field Institute As an instructor for the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Pete Walka has sponsored over 50 courses in Flagstaff, Arizona since 2002. In 2006, he created the Flagstaff Field Institute to continue this cooperative effort with WMI of NOLS. The Flagstaff Field Institute functions as the center of wilderness medicine education in Arizona and the Four Corners region of the Colorado Plateau. WMI of NOLS WMI of NOLS is the international leader in wilderness medicine education. WMI has held courses on 6 of the 7 continents and trained more than 40,000 students. With a fulltime Curriculum Director and a board of advisory physicians, WMI’s curriculum is constantly updated to stay at the forefront of this dynamic field. WMI is accredited by the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for Emergency Medical Services. CECBEMS, sponsored by the National Registry of EMTs, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, and others, accredits organizations that consistently provide excellent educational opportunities to students. For further information on WMI or NOLS, please visit their websites: www.nols.edu/wmi and www.nols.edu. Flagstaff Flagstaff is situated at 7000 feet in northern Arizona, at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. The weather is amazing with 300+ sunny days and 80-100 inches of snow annually. Mountain and road biking, rock climbing, skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, rafting, kayaking -- the recreational opportunities are ridiculous. In addition, the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Monument Valley, multiple national monuments, the Verde River, and many other amazing places lie within 100 miles of Flagstaff. Come prepared to learn lots and play hard! Students Over the years, students from over 30 different states and 5 countries have traveled to Flagstaff to learn wilderness medicine and enjoy the amazing recreation and beauty of the area. Students have included outdoor professionals from the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Parks, Arizona Fish and Game, multiple SAR units, and many other agencies. College students, wilderness survival experts, river guides, wilderness therapy instructors, ski patrol, climbing and mountaineering guides, NOLS and OB instructors -- the list goes on and on. Everyone is welcome, and the diversity of the group only enriches the experience. Course location Most scheduled courses are held at the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA). Established in 1928, MNA is a private, nonprofit institution with an amazing collection, incredible facilities, and an active educational program. Courses are held at Pearson Hall, and students are often housed in the adjacent cabins. Ponderosa pines and open meadows provide perfect locations for scenarios. For more information on MNA, please visit their website at www.musnaz.org.  Courses may be taught at other locations as necessary.

WMI of NOLS Instructors in the region

Pete Walka, MS, NREMT-P, WEMT

Pete’s earliest memories of wilderness medicine were driven by necessity -- on his first San Juan River trip at 9 years old, he had just whacked his little brother in the face with a mud clod and desperately hoped to stop the crying before he got in trouble.  Pete’s outdoor and medical skills --and his aim -- have improved since this early beginning.  He grew up on the rivers of Idaho, rowing the Main Salmon with his own boat at 13 and learning to kayak in boats nearly as long as his raft.  He eventually spent 10 years guiding rafting, mountain biking, and sea kayaking trips in Utah, Arizona, and Alaska.   In 1993, Pete earned his WEMT certification and met his wife-to-be, Sherry, at a WEMT course in North Carolina, and, in 1994, Pete earned his bachelors degree in human biology from Stanford University.  While later working as the Assistant Director of the Outdoor Program at Idaho State University, he developed backcountry treatment guidelines for the staff, trained students and faculty in wilderness medicine, and taught kayaking, climbing, and Dutch oven cooking as an adjunct faculty member.   He returned to Flagstaff in 2001 and obtained his masters degree in forestry with an emphasis in recreation impacts from Northern Arizona University.  Pete has been a WMI instructor since 1999, and currently works full time as Battalion Chief/Paramedic in Flagstaff and part-time as a seasonal ranger/paramedic at Grand Canyon National Park.  Pete is the President of the Flagstaff Field Institute, Incorporated.

Marc Yeston, BS, NREMT-P, WEMT

Marc Yeston loves to train WMI students.  He took his initial EMT course in 1981 and became a Paramedic in 1983.  After working for a few years in the urban environment of Denver, he took his experience into rural areas as a professional ski patroller & EMS instructor in Summit County, Colorado.  As a river guide, and later as a river ranger, he had many opportunities to practice wilderness medicine.  For the past sixteen years, Marc has worked in a variety of busy backcountry settings as a ranger with the National Park Service.  He currently serves as the Deputy Chief Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park.  In his present capacity he oversees backcountry and river ranger operations, directs many complex search & rescue missions and regularly serves as a flight paramedic.  Marc has been uniformly impressed with the level of care and ability demonstrated by the WMI graduates he’s encountered during actual backcountry emergencies.  His desire to instruct for WMI came from those experiences.  “WMI has hit on a winning formula” Marc says, “The intense hands-on approach prepares students to deal effectively with a myriad of backcountry medical problems, the WMI curriculum is dynamic and based in reality…the only thing more fun than taking a WMI course is teaching one.”  When not instructing, Marc can be found working in the field as a rescuer.  “I feel well equipped to answer student’s questions based on my own experiences as a backcountry medic.”  Marc holds a B.S. in Natural Resource Management and loves seeing the grandeur of the Four Corners region, as though for the first time, through the eyes of his young daughter.  “She’s learning to kayak so I’m teaching her about shoulder dislocations.” Marc says.

Liam Downey, EMT-I, WEMT

Liam Downey had his first introduction to wilderness medicine in a WFR course taught by Pete Walka. Already an EMT, Downey was so impressed by the curriculum, course organization, depth of information presented, and skill of the instructor team that he quickly developed a passion for this particular field of medicine. Five years later, he's now a lead instructor for the Wilderness Medicine Institute and frequently finds himself teaching in Flagstaff. Calling Bluff, Utah his home, Downey divides his time between teaching for WMI, teaching emergency medicine for the State of Utah, and running with his local Fire/Rescue as a Firefighter/EMT-Intermediate. In his few spare moments he's also a whitewater river guide, occasionally finds himself on field archaeology crews, and spends as much time as he can exploring the Colorado Plateau in minute detail.

More WMI of NOLS Instructors