Certifications are qualifications, not purchases. They record what somebody is trained and approved to do — lead an outing, administer first aid, teach Leave No Trace. Nothing here touches money, and several of them expire, which is the part that matters most.
Two more statuses sit outside this run: Not Earned for somebody who started and did not finish, and Revoked where a qualification was withdrawn.
The qualification itself, as a thing that exists: Wilderness First Aid, CPR / AED, Outdoor Leadership. There are only a handful and they change rarely. Think of this as the list of what can be earned, not a record of anybody earning it.
One person holding one qualification, with the dates and the status. This is the record you will actually work with — thousands of them, one per person per certification. When somebody asks "is she qualified?", this is what answers it.
This is what the certifications are for. Levels 1, 2 and 3 are not something somebody is given and they are not a field on any record — a level is earned by holding the right combination of certifications. Each level lists a set of requirements, and each requirement can be satisfied by one or more certifications.
Each level is checked against what somebody currently holds. Let a certification expire and the level it supported stops being satisfied.
| Level and requirement | Satisfied by |
|---|---|
| L1 · Co-lead outing | COLEAD1 |
| L1 · Leave No Trace | LNT101 |
| L1 · Leader guide read | OLGREAD |
| L1 · Harassment prevention | SHPT |
| L2 · First aid | BFA or WFA |
| L2 · Co-lead outing | COLEAD2 |
| L2 · Map and compass | MAPCOMP |
| L2 · Outdoor leadership | OUTLEAD |
| L3 · Wilderness first aid | WFA |
| L3 · Leave No Trace Awareness | LNTAWARE |
The current catalog. Codes appear on records and in imports, so they are worth recognizing.
| Certification | Code |
|---|---|
| Wilderness First Aid | WFA |
| Basic First Aid | BFA |
| CPR / AED | CPR |
| Outdoor Leadership | OUTLEAD |
| Outdoor Leadership Guide — Read Confirmation | OLGREAD |
| Co-lead Outing Confirmation | COLEAD1 |
| Level 2 Co-lead Outing Confirmation | COLEAD2 |
| Map & Compass Fundamentals | MAPCOMP |
| Leave No Trace 101 | LNT101 |
| Leave No Trace Awareness | LNTAWARE |
| Sexual Harassment Prevention | SHPT |
| Fire Tower Challenge — Adult | FTC-ADULT |
| Fire Tower Challenge — Child | FTC-CHILD |
| Fire Tower Challenge Completers | FTC-COMP |
Enrolled, Earned, Not Earned, Expired or Revoked. Earned is the one that means qualified — and only until the expiration date passes.
When the qualification stops counting. First aid and CPR certifications lapse on a fixed cycle, so somebody who earned one four years ago may no longer be covered. Always read this alongside the status.
When they signed up and when they actually completed it. The gap between the two is useful for spotting people who started something and drifted — worth a nudge before the course runs again.
A separate track for evidence being checked: Submitted, In Review, More Info Needed, Approved, Denied. This is about the paperwork, not the qualification. A record can be approved on review and still be expired.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Can this person lead an outing? | Status = Earned and Expiration Date in the future |
| Whose first aid is about to lapse? | Certification = WFA or BFA · Expiration next 90 days |
| Who has already expired? | Status = Expired |
| Who signed up but never finished? | Status = Enrolled with an old enrollment date |
| Is their paperwork still pending? | Review Status = Submitted or In Review |
| Who completed the Fire Tower Challenge? | Certification = FTC-COMP |
| Everything one person holds | Contact → Certifications |
This is the mistake with real consequences. A record showing Earned tells you somebody passed the course; it does not tell you they are covered today. Someone with expired wilderness first aid leading a trip is a genuine safety and liability problem, and the record will still say Earned right up until the status is updated. Read the expiration date every time.
You cannot look up "Level 2" as a thing somebody holds. It is worked out from the certifications on their record, so it changes on its own as certifications are earned and as they expire. Nobody is downgraded by hand — a lapsed first aid certificate silently stops Level 2 being satisfied, and the only way to see it is to check the underlying certifications.
WFA satisfies the Level 2 first aid requirement and is a Level 3 requirement in its own right. Somebody who takes it instead of Basic First Aid is therefore part-way to Level 3 already. Worth knowing when advising people which course to take.
Leave No Trace Awareness used to count towards the Level 1 Leave No Trace requirement and no longer does — only LNT 101 satisfies it now. Awareness still counts at Level 3. If somebody expects an old qualification to carry them to Level 1, this is usually why it does not.
When somebody retakes a course, that is a new Contact Certification rather than an edit to the old one. The history stays intact and you can see how long they have held the qualification. It also means one person legitimately has several records for the same certification — the current one is the one whose dates have not run out.
Expired means time ran out and it can be renewed like anything else. Revoked means it was deliberately withdrawn, which is a different conversation entirely. Never clean up revoked records or quietly change them to expired — that removes a decision somebody made on purpose.
A lapsed member can hold a current certification, and a paid-up member may hold none. If somebody needs both — current membership and a valid qualification — that is two separate checks on two separate objects. Neither implies the other.