ForRetreat leadersCore retreat teamsFestival & event leadsFacilitatorsRemote venue teams
First aid in context · retreat · festival · altered-state settings

Specialist emergency-response training for retreats, festivals and altered-state environments.

Helping non-clinical teams recognise deterioration, respond effectively and escalate before delay changes the outcome.

First aid built for the environment you actually work in.

Not generic workplace first aid. FieldSafe training is shaped around the risks, behaviours and decision-making challenges that can arise around retreats, ceremony, fasting, heat, breathwork, altered states, festivals and remote venues.

Recognise Respond Escalate
Get FieldSafe SOS — £9 onceThe information that speaks when you can’t.
FieldSafe Medical shield
ALSinstructor & provider experience
30+ yearshigh-acuity emergency experience
Senior emergency leadershipclinical & operational coordination
15+ yearsfestival & event response
Heartstart UKBLS & AED instruction
Why FieldSafe is different

The emergency may be familiar. The context around it may not be.

Standard first-aid skills still matter. FieldSafe adds the context-specific judgement retreat and event teams need when illness can be mistaken for the expected effects of ceremony, exertion, heat, fasting, purging or an altered state.

Recognise what does not fit.

Learn to notice changes in breathing, responsiveness, colour, circulation, behaviour and trajectory — and ask whether “part of the process” is still a safe explanation.

Know when waiting becomes unsafe.

Work through situations such as altered consciousness, hypoglycaemia, seizures, anaphylaxis, heat illness, dehydration, vomiting and medical deterioration without trying to make a lay diagnosis.

Respond as the team you actually have.

Practise first actions, role allocation, 999 communication, reassessment, ambulance access and handover so the people already responsible for the setting can work calmly together.

“Not everything that happens in a retreat is part of the process.”
The qualification question

FieldSafe is not trying to replace EFAW or FAW.

If your organisation’s first-aid needs assessment says you need a recognised workplace qualification, keep that requirement. FieldSafe does a different job: it adds specialist, context-specific emergency training for the environment your team actually works in.

Workplace qualification

EFAW and FAW are recognised workplace first-aid routes where your needs assessment requires them. FieldSafe does not present its retreat programmes as those qualifications.

The FieldSafe specialist layer

Deterioration recognition, altered-state ambiguity, retreat-specific scenarios, remote access, team roles, escalation, handover and venue readiness — the context your team may actually face.

Some organisations may need both. FieldSafe participants receive a Certificate of Completion for the specialist training undertaken. It is not an EFAW or FAW certificate. See the full training scope →
What FieldSafe offers

Three connected ways to prepare.

Specialist training for the people, readiness work for the venue and response system, and FieldSafe SOS for the individual.

FieldSafe SOS

The information that speaks when you can’t.

A private personal emergency record with a separate Emergency View you control. Digital only. £9 once.

Discover FieldSafe SOS →
Training

Recognise. Respond. Escalate.

Practical, scenario-based emergency-response training for retreat teams, facilitators, wellness centres and remote venues.

Explore training →
Readiness

Make the system work.

Venue access, communications, first-aid equipment, AED readiness and written emergency planning around the people.

Explore readiness →
Training options

Choose the level that fits your team.

Every course starts with the same practical question: could this be something else? The training then builds the observations, first actions, reassessment and escalation skills your team needs in retreat, festival and remote environments.

Essential

FieldSafe Essentials

Best for smaller retreat teams needing a practical emergency foundation.

  • Early deterioration: breathing, responsiveness, colour & circulation
  • Anaphylaxis, hypoglycaemia, bleeding, heat illness & collapse
  • Hands-on CPR, AED and emergency-service activation
Retreat focusBuild the foundation for spotting when somebody is genuinely unwell rather than simply tired, overwhelmed or having an expected response.
£395 + travel expenses
Recognition + scenarios

Retreat Response

Best for established teams wanting deeper judgement, retreat-sensitive scenarios and repeated reassessment.

  • Altered state or medical deterioration? Structured recognition and reassessment
  • Seizures, hypoglycaemia, anaphylaxis, airway problems & altered consciousness
  • Heat, dehydration, vomiting/diarrhoea, collapse, CPR and AED
Retreat focusPractise the judgement calls that arise when ceremony, breathwork, fasting, purging or altered-state behaviour can make a medical problem easier to miss.
£695 + travel expenses
Leadership + system

FieldSafe Ready

Best for core retreat teams who need to lead the response and make the system around them work.

  • Response leadership, role allocation, reassessment & escalation
  • Retreat-sensitive scenarios plus People · Place · Kit · Plan · Practice
  • Venue review, emergency access, equipment and written Readiness Plan
Retreat focusMove beyond individual first-aid skills and build the core team, venue system and leadership needed when everybody else looks to you.
£895 + travel expenses
Annual update

FieldSafe Annual Update

Best for teams that have already completed FieldSafe practical training and want a structured yearly refresh.

  • Deterioration recognition and altered-state-versus-illness refresh
  • Scenario review, incident learning, escalation and changes in guidance
  • Live online or in person; full practical renewal recommended at least every 3 years
Retreat focusKeep the team’s recognition and decision-making current between full practical training days.
From £225 per team
Clear training status FieldSafe courses are independent specialist first-aid and emergency-response training. Participants receive a FieldSafe Medical Certificate of Completion; the courses are not presented as EFAW or FAW qualifications. See certificate & scope →
The teaching principle

Not everything that happens in a retreat is part of the process.

Fasting, heat, breathwork, ceremony, purging, altered state and exhaustion can all provide an easy explanation for somebody who looks unwell. FieldSafe teaches teams to notice what does not fit, use simple observations and recognise when watching and waiting is becoming unsafe.

The aim is not lay diagnosis. It is earlier recognition and better escalation.

Three questions
1
What changed?Notice the deviation from a safe baseline.
2
Is it resolving?Reassess after time or intervention.
3
Is it safe to stay?Consider the person, the environment and access to definitive care.
Stories From the Field

Experience turned into teachable judgement.

FieldSafe stories are not rescue stories. They show the decisions, observations and changes in trajectory that matter when the textbook presentation is missing.

Goodge Street

An emergency that did not begin like the textbook — and why observing what changed mattered more than forcing an early label.

When the picture changes, change your response.
Read full story

All Things Fungi

A person can appear relatively stable at one moment while the direction of travel is anything but reassuring.

Stable now does not mean safe to stay.
Read full story

2 a.m. anaphylaxis

The first treatment was given. The emergency was not over. Reassessment and preparation for deterioration remained essential.

Treatment does not end the emergency. Reassessment does.
Read full story
Venue readiness services

Training is only half the job.

A capable team can still lose critical minutes if access is unclear, communications fail, equipment cannot be found or nobody has rehearsed who does what. These readiness services can be booked separately or built into FieldSafe Ready.

Readiness Review

Review the system around the team using People · Place · Kit · Plan · Practice — including access, communications, equipment, escalation and the practical realities of the venue.

People — response lead, backup and roles
Place — address, access, gates, tracks and rendezvous
Kit + plan — equipment, communications and written actions
Available separately by quote — or included within FieldSafe Ready
Explore Readiness Review

Scenario Rehearsal

Run a realistic incident in the actual environment, see where the response slows down, then debrief and turn the learning into practical changes.

Run the response — recognition, roles, equipment and escalation
Test access + communication — find friction before a real emergency
Debrief honestly — what worked, what confused and what changes
Available separately by quote — venue-specific scope agreed first
Explore scenario rehearsal

AED & equipment readiness

Make the kit support the emergencies the team is preparing for — without buying equipment nobody is trained or governed to use.

AED need + placement — access, visibility and practical reach
Kit review — completeness, expiry and fit for the setting
Team familiarisation — know where it is and what you can use
Available separately by quote — commercial supplier relationships disclosed
Explore equipment readiness
FieldSafe SOS

The information that speaks when you can’t.

FieldSafe SOS gives you a private emergency-information record and a separate responder-facing Emergency View. You choose what appears in that view. Everything else stays private behind your account.

£9one-off
yours to keep
Private recordPersonal medical information is encrypted before synchronisation.
Emergency ViewYou choose the limited information another person can see.
RevocableEmergency links can be withdrawn and recreated.
Phone-firstInstallable as a PWA over HTTPS.

Explore the phone demo. Swipe on touchscreens, click-and-drag on desktop, or use the arrows and keyboard. Emergency Mode is optional and off by default.

Russell Maher, founder of FieldSafe Medical
Meet the founder

Clinical depth translated into usable action.

FieldSafe brings together decades of high-acuity emergency experience, advanced resuscitation teaching, senior event leadership and long familiarity with retreat environments — then translates that depth into practical judgement for non-clinical teams.

Clinical background30+ years across cardiac, critical-care and high-acuity settings.
TeachingENB 998 teaching/assessing, ALS and longstanding BLS/AED instruction.
Event operationsFestival clinical operations, site management, emergency response and team leadership.
Retreat fluency25+ years within retreat, bodywork, energy-healing and plant-medicine spaces.
Team-first leadership

Competence without theatre.

Earlier in my career I was selected into advanced resuscitation instructor training not only for technical performance, but for how I communicated, supported other candidates and worked within the team. Years later, on a separate course, that same behaviour was independently recognised again while I was helping candidates who were struggling.

In high-stakes environments, expertise is not demonstrated by being the loudest person in the room. Strong teams are built so everybody feels able to speak, contribute and act.

Meet the founder

Frequently asked

Know exactly what you are booking.

Clear scope builds confidence. FieldSafe specialist training sits alongside any formal workplace first-aid requirements your organisation has.

Is this EFAW or FAW?

No. FieldSafe retreat programmes are independent specialist emergency-response training for lay teams. They are not EFAW or FAW qualifications. If your organisation’s first-aid needs assessment requires EFAW or FAW, that requirement should be met separately; FieldSafe adds the retreat-, festival- and altered-state-specific layer on top.

Can complete beginners attend?

Yes. The language and scenarios are designed for non-clinical staff, facilitators, volunteers and venue teams.

Do people actually use the AED trainer?

Yes on face-to-face courses. Practical sessions are built around doing, not merely watching demonstrations.

Are travel costs included?

No. Travel, parking, tolls and any necessary accommodation are quoted separately and agreed before booking.

Request a quote

Tell us what your team actually needs.

Share the setting, team size and the situations you most want your people to feel prepared for. FieldSafe will recommend the most appropriate format and provide a clear quotation.

Training enquiry

Tell us enough to recommend the right fit.

No need to know which course you need. Describe the setting and FieldSafe will recommend the most appropriate option and quote.

01 About you
02 Your venue / team
A town or broad area is enough at enquiry stage.
03 What you need

No obligation to book. Training enquiries are separate from FieldSafe SOS purchases.