Online Survival Skills Course

Learn to survive in the wild!

Whether on day or overnight trips, whenever a group goes on a trip into natural areas they need to be prepared, and lede by someone who has an adequate level of survival skills.  Every week in Australia there are reports of individuals and groups missing in the bush, often quite close to help, occassionally these events are fatal, but they don't have to be

Work in an outdoor supply or camping shop; or in the tourism or leisure industries.

This course builds an understanding of the things you are likely to confront when you leave civilisation; and provides a foundation for preparing yourself and those who accompany you for any excursion into a natural area.

This course is valuable to people who may have a recreational interest in wilderness exploration, orienteers, tour guides, scout leaders, or ecotour business owners.

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Understanding Wilderness Areas
   • Introduction
   • Living Things
   • Ecological Relationships
   • Climatic Zones
   • Climate/Soil/Vegetation Interrelationships
   • Plant Associations
   • Continental Drift
   • Understanding Impacts of Weather on Wilderness Activities - Highs and Lows, Thunderstorms, Atmospheric pressure changes in storms, guide to weather symbols.
   • Terminology
   • Participant Fitness Levels - testing current physical fitness and further tests
2. Equipment
   • Introduction
   • Equipping to survive - minimum essential items for the survival kit, additional items, individual medical kit
   • Essential Items for Wilderness Travel
   • Clothing
   • Nutrition
   • Food packaging
   • Liability and Insurance
   • Risk Assessment
3. Protection from the Elements
   • Introduction
   • First Aid Procedures
   • Hypothermia (exposure)
   • Hyperthermia (heat exhaustion)
   • Building a wilderness shelter
   • Lighting a fire
   • Mental strength
4. Natural Resources
   • Introduction
   • Finding water - plan ahead to find water, how much water do you need? Landscape vegetation and animal signs, things to avoid, making an above ground still, soakage water, water from tree roots
   • Case Study - Survival story
   • Bush tucker or Survival Food - Australian bush tucker foods.
   • Preparation of plant food.
   • Animals for food
   • Use of Bush Tucker Food
5. Navigation
   • Introduction
   • Navigation and direction finding - how to use a compass, map reading, longitude and latitude, scale, contour lines, estimating distances, pacing.
   • Navigation by the sun, moon and stars
6. Dealing with Emergencies
   • Introduction
   • Venomous creatures - snakes - symptoms of a poisonous bite, first aid, arachnids - first aid, marine creatures - jelly fish, cone shell, first aid, scorpionfish, lionfish and stonefish - first aid, other dangerous marine creatures.
   • Carnivorous mammals - bears, big cats
   • Poisonous plants
   • Bushfires
7. Camping
   • Introduction
   • Setting up camp
   • Camping - different styles of camping
   • Successful camp programming
   • Waste disposal
8. Passive Land Based Activities
   • Introduction
   • Observing nature
   • Orienteering
   • Environmental activities for children
   • Plant collection
9. Water Based Adventure Activities
   • Introduction
   • Some water-based activities - snorkelling, scuba, sailing, speed boating and jet skiing, canoeing, white-water rafting, water skiing.
10. Active Land Based Adventure Activities
    • Introduction
    • Activities - abseiling, hang gliding, rock climbing, snow skiing, snowboarding
    • Motorised Vehicles - landscape impact, safety, considerations
    • Mountain Bikes
    • Horse Riding

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Request your free info pack today!