Meet Roxanne Tenscher: Rivers, Rescue, and Wilderness Medicine
Roxanne Tenscher had spent much of her life in wild places before an injury in a remote part of Washington changed the direction of her work.
Her rescue took three days and ultimately required a helicopter. Afterward, Roxanne became passionate about wilderness medicine training, and about giving other people the skills to respond when help is far away.
Today, Roxanne is a WEMT and Wilderness Medicine Lead Instructor. She has taught Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, and Wilderness EMT courses for 16 years, building on approximately five decades of experience in outdoor education.
Roxanne Tenscher at a glance
- Current role: Wilderness Medicine Lead Instructor
- Credential: WEMT
- Wilderness medicine teaching: 16 years
- Outdoor education experience: More than 50 years
- Areas of focus: Patient assessment, musculoskeletal injuries, wound care, altitude illness, navigation, kayaking, and cross-country skiing
- Field experience: The western United States, Crater Lake National Park, British Columbia, Bhutan, expeditions, and river environments
A life shaped by rivers and wild places
Roxanne’s relationship with the outdoors began long before her formal wilderness medicine career. At age 14, her first rafting trip down the Colorado River sparked a lifelong love of river travel.
She now has 55 years of whitewater rafting and kayaking experience, including kayaking and guiding Class V rivers. She has also hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail, completed all the routes of Bhutan’s Snowman Trek, and participated in three trekking expeditions in Bhutan—organizing and leading two of them.
Her experience also includes work throughout the western United States, time in the backcountry of British Columbia, and volunteering with the Nordic Ski Patrol at Crater Lake National Park.
Bhutan helped Roxanne recognize something important about herself: “I belong in wild places. They are my spiritual center. My church.”
Thinking beyond the initial injury
Roxanne teaches a broad range of wilderness medicine topics, but she particularly enjoys musculoskeletal injuries, wound care, and altitude illness. She also teaches map-and-compass navigation, cross-country skiing, and kayaking and has provided medical support on expeditions, river trips, and personal wilderness outings.
The practical skill she most wants clinicians to strengthen is a thorough patient assessment. In a remote setting, that means considering not only the immediate problem but also the care a patient may need over time and the complications that could develop while evacuation is delayed.
That longer view helps clinicians prepare for what may happen several hours from now, not only what is happening in the moment.
Why Roxanne Tenscher values small-group teaching
Roxanne enjoys the intimate class sizes of MedTreks courses because they allow her to connect more closely with participants and learn what they are most interested in.
While still covering the required curriculum, she can adapt her teaching to the questions, needs, and experience levels within the group. That flexibility makes the education feel more personal and useful.
Her advice for someone joining their first MedTreks course reflects the spirit she brings to the outdoors: “Spread joy. Chase your wildest dreams.”
Outside of wilderness medicine, Roxanne has learned sign language because her daughter is deaf. She takes her first-aid kit nearly everywhere and eats Jelly Belly jelly beans one at a time, trying to guess each flavor.
Her favorite way to reset is simply to sit quietly and observe.
“It is amazing what you see and learn if you just stop making noise.”
Meet the MedTreks faculty
Explore MedTreks wilderness medicine courses or meet the rest of the MedTreks team.
