Courses Overview

Austere Emergency Care Saves Lives

Designed by the world’s leading experts in U.S. Military Special Operations Forces prolonged field care medicine, Austere Emergency Care (AEC) training prepares medical team members at all levels to provide timely and efficient care to serious and critical casualties in austere conditions, defined as situations without robust medical supervision or support. 

During the course, participants will gain knowledge based on best practices in medical literature drawing from military Prolonged Field Care (PFC), Prolonged Casualty Care (PCC) and Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) clinical practice guidelines, as well as the latest emergency medical treatments, interventions, and guidelines.

Specialized Curriculum

Austere Emergency Care features medical education and training that is grounded in best practices, designed for both online and classroom learning, interspersed with practical labs and experiential learning scenarios. 

Live-Action Scenarios

The final day utilizes live-action role players to recreate and immerse students in realistic and operationally-relevant extended evacuation scenarios, proctored and coached by seasoned medical professionals.

Eligibility

Participants taking this course are eligible for:

  • up to 40 continuing education (CE) credits
  • FAWM credit hours for Fellow candidates of the Wilderness Medical Society (AEC-A participants only) 
  • a certificate of completion.

What to Expect

Courses typically run for 4 full days. During the course, there is classroom learning, practical labs, and a full-day live action scenario. 

Students are required to review pre-course lessons and complete a short quiz. 

To receive the course completion certificate and continuing education credits, students must complete a final online test. (CE credits are awarded at the authority and direction of the hosting institution.)

Who Should Take These Courses?

This course is designed for prehospital providers who currently, or plan to, work in a rural, remote, or austere (resource and medical supervision-limited) environments, or wish to expand their education and training beyond standard medical facility bounds. 

Participants include emergency medical responders such as first responders, EMTs, paramedics, physicians, as well as fire, police, and military personnel.  Rescue teams as well as non-governmental organizations (NGO) who respond to disaster or unique environments also benefit tremendously from the course.

As a pre-requisite, students should have the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) or Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) training.

Ready to Take a Course?

We are proud to partner with international training companies to deliver the best curriculum to participants. If your company is interested in becoming a training partner, please contact us.

Want to join in on a course that’s already scheduled? Check out the calendar.

“As a newer basic EMT, I was blown away by this course.  The “real life” aspect of all of the training made everything easy to learn.  All of the instructors were so encouraging throughout the entire class.  I would highly recommend this course to any level of EMS personnel.”

Melody C
EMT

“SMS courses are the cream of the crop!  Top-notch instruction and very relevant classroom and practical training.  The instructor staff are professional and share their knowledge with passion and zeal.  I highly recommend!”

AEC student
Gunnison Paramedics

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