Aerie Backcountry Medicine

Registration Details

This course is full and cannot accept additional registrations.

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You may add yourself to the waitlist on this course by following this link and completing the form: Waitlist Link

Course Information:

Red Card Course

Missoula, MT

Jun 28, 2025 - Jun 29, 2025


Overview:
Aerie Backcountry Medicine offers a Red Card course to EMTs, AEMTs, and Paramedics who desire to be deployed as a medical resource on a wildland fire incident.  The Red Card, officially called an Incident Qualification Card, is an accepted interagency certification that a person is qualified to do the required job when arriving on an incident.

Course Details:
This course is designed to prepare you to operate as a Fireline EMT / Paramedic. The Fireline EMS positions are unique entry-level positions in the wildland fire service that are often asked to operate more independently than most entry-level fire positions. We acknowledge the unique risk this poses if you were to be contracted onto a fire, and so we have built a course to exceed national standards.

This course is completed over the duration of two in-person training days.  One day is largely classroom, discussion, and case-study based.  The other day is field based, where participants complete an arduous pack test (see below), fire shelter deployments and other fieldwork.

The in-person days may only be completed if the prerequisite online work is completed and submitted before the first day of in-person training.

Prerequisites:
To facilitate a more in-depth classroom/field training session, we require the following online training to be completed before the in-person training days:

• Introduction to ICS (IS-100)
• NIMS: An Introduction (IS-700)
• Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service (L-180)
• Firefighter Training (S-130)
• Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior (S-190)

These courses are free and available online.  Once enrolled in Aerie’s Red Card Course, you will be given a how-to document about accessing these courses.

Arduous Pack Test:
This course includes a test to show each firefighter is able to perform arduous duty. That is a 3-mile walk with a 45-pound pack completed in or under 45 minutes.

Cost:
$500.  Cost does not include accommodations, food, or any other travel expenses.

Location:
Missoula, MT