Director - Carl Weil

Carl Weil has received numerous credentials including Nationally Registered EMT, EMT-IV/MAST, Colorado Instructor-Coordinator, CPR Instructor Trainer, a National Wilderness Instructor trainer designation and the prestigious Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. He became the first Master Fellow when the new program was opened in 2012.  Carl started his EMT career in 1972. He grew up in the Colorado mountains with a family ranch and guide service. He began working with Search and Rescue units in 1959, and started teaching First Aid to Ski Patrollers in 1967. He has been a Trip Medic on numerous treks, including being a Medic and Guide on a Mt. Everest expedition in 1991. He brings practical outdoor experience to the classroom. His emergency medical experience includes working in Denver General's Emergency Department to starting and operating a rural ambulance service. Carl holds training certificates from many sources and has served on the Colorado First Responder committees and CO EMT groups. He has been part of the education groups connected with  the Wilderness Medical Society who have set minimums and SOP for Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder. He has been involved in the writing and publishing of these efforts and is the coordinator of the web site for the writing group [founded by 8 wilderness medicine schools in 1996] WFR-SOP.org.  Mr. Weil has reviewed over 3,000 outdoor businesses as a risk manager. He has been an expert witness in over 300 legal actions in both civil and criminal cases.   His background includes 2 USMC honorable discharges, work as an outdoor guide and a peace officer on 2 forces. His grand parents,parents and son also were/are veterans, guides  and lawmen. 

He looks forward to answering your questions and helping you.

Click Here to see a list of our qualified instructors.

 

EARLY WMO HISTORY
The first class was taught by Carl Weil, Sandy Long and Allan Duckworth to mostly ski patrol members of the St Mary Glacier and Geneva Basin patrollers. The class was held  at Colorado State University in 1967 march. Carl and Sandy went on to have ski patrol involvement for the next 20+ years, Carl as an instructor and Sandy as a patroller. Carl says Sandy was a far better skier then he. The three of the instructors had become Red cross instructors the previous year at CSU. Carl had also taken the athletic trainer classes at CSU along with various other biological sciences and outdoor guide classes at CSU. Carl went on teaching numerous first aid classes with an outdoors activity emphases for the next 20 years in the Ft Collins area, then from Elizabeth in 1970. Carl sought more education in this emerging field taking his first EMT in 1971 at the CU Med campus on Colorado Boulevard in Denver. He helped organize a class taught by Ginny Korman and Chuck Baum in Elizabeth in 1976. While he continued teaching, he also started the Elizabeth CO ambulance company purchasing the first ambulance from Ambulance Service CO in Denver with a $10,000 personal loan from Tony Anderson of the Kiowa Bank. He helped found the Elbert county EMS council with Hugh Shear of Callahan and became the first council president around 1977. Carl again took the EMT course from Aurora hospital and Northglen hospital along with numerous other similar classes passing the National register in the 1980s in Colorado springs. Carl became a member of NASARs medical board under Dr. Steve Pehrson of Roosevelt hospital Utah. He was the first non-physician to be a member of that board. He was teaching wilderness medicine classes under his company name of White Mesa a division of Wilderness Medicine Outfitters. The White Mesa name was dropped in the late 1980s in favor of the parent company name of Wilderness Medicine Outfitters.  In 1987, he joined the WMS to further his wilderness medical presentations and became an instructor for awhile under Dr. Peter Goth who he credits as grandfather of wilderness medicine education. You can read more about those who he credits with helping WMO develop and deliver todays great self reliant medical education on this site. Carl was the first to sign up under WMSs Fellow program in 2004 first group to be acknowledged as having earned their Fellow designation. In 2012, Carl Weil became the first to complete the 5 year advisor reviewed, thesis required, program over seen by 2 PhDs and 5 physicians to earn the Master Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine Degree. As of 2012, there were 3,000 (62% physicians, approximate # ) members of the Wilderness Medicine Society. He greatly exceeded the requirements with over 20 public presentations of his work, 3 publications, an 86 page thesis and met the requirements of two advisors. It may be years before anyone meets, let alone exceeds, his achieved standards.