Backcountry emergencies are markedly different from those occurring in urban settings. The possibility of prolonged evacuation dictates that training conveys the knowledge and skills required for medical stabilization and rescue. Wilderness professionals, guides, rescue team leaders and members are ethically and legally held to high standards of competence and performance. Their work often presents difficult problems in medical and rescue procedure, and related questions of liability. Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS offers integrated curriculum covering all three of these important aspects of wilderness care.