I dont quite agree with Richard.
Wilderness in reality is not just an issue of comms. It is as much an issue of access. In the Uk there are many places and scenarios which can make rapid attendance of a victim difficult . Cumbria was a great example where the comms was compromised for a number of reasons and the actual acssess to some areas was almost impossible without a helicopter and they arnt your first aiders... (mainly bridges ). In fact comms in many rescues is far more difficult than the TV fiction suggests
In these scenarios having people out there with basic first aid is a life saver because they will be there before the fully qualified signing and dancing folk. . Many memebers of the traditional emargency services are ill equipped/trained to assist at the site of a non urban location and require the victim to be evaced to a neutral place first....thus again basic first aid skills and a little ingenuity is vital. Certainly for rescue work, common sense and flexibility add greatly to the sucsess rate.
Just a couple of wee tails.. a guy i know who is very highly trained had to recus a guy (near drowning/hypo etc)...the interesting bit was that he rescued him from what we call a recycling stopper..which is a part of the river that recycles its own water thus trapping a victim in what is basically a washing machine....... well after attempts with a throw line and no time for anything complex/boats etc..he dumped 5o foot of rope ramdomly in the river above this guy. This tangled him up and allowed for brute force to pull him clear , nearly strangled him and could have killed him anyway..but it was that or a dead man.
The second thought was about the oooh i cant do that culture... a first aider who refused to do CPR on a guy because being a woman it would contravene their particular belief/faith (on a mountain). People are weird.
Anyway... first respond/first aider etc..... bottom line do the basics they will be far more useful than learning complex craft...... oh and teach all your kids and the dog to.