“They are funny things accident’s, you never know them till you’re having them” Eyore – The House at Pooh Corner
I am sitting here, at a desk in front of a PC thinking of sunny skies and fresh tracks to be cut, itching to feel that sensation of carving the perfect turn. That’s the trouble with life, needing to earn a living while remembering “back in the day” when I would take off for a trip without a thought for work or consequences. A lifetime of extreme sports takes its toll and my many injuries have (almost) caught up. Also time gives you an overactive imagination which 30 years of rescue work in the mountains does little to diminish.
I guess one enduring thought when slopeside among the much more adventurous and frankly much more skilled freerider’s and hucker’s than my day is that it would be great if you could take some of the problems out from my old head and stick it in some of the new, then maybe some folk might think about accidents. Not in way to put folk off you understand, but maybe how to help out a friend or stop ending the perfect run under a few tons of slab. One thought I would share first is that when someone gets hurt and you don’t know how to help you feel like shit. Most stuff you need to know at an accident is basic, so here’s some:
Dry slopes can burn when you fall but the first time you hit the park it may be concrete. Have a feel for the snow conditions before you go for it. Save the insurance bills for later.
Prevent a second accident by warning off other skiers and mark off the scene of an accident with crossed skis above the site
If you saw the fall you will know in your heart immediately if it’s not going to be good so don’t waste time. Send someone off for the ski patrol or to alert lift staff immediately.
Upper body limb injuries are common but get better. Broken necks and spines don’t if mishandled. Paradoxically the injured neck and spine is often not acutely painful, whereas a bent wrist or knocked shoulder is. Any fall on the head, or big air where the legs impact and the person looses control and goes in hard can cause direct injury to the spine, or indirect up the legs crushing vertebrae in the back. Anyone who has pain in neck or back has a spinal injury until emergency room staff say otherwise.
Injured folk who can’t speak or move are unconscious. If they can’t speak you don’t know if they can breath so put them on their side in case they puke or they lose a clear passage of air to the lungs. Get help to turn them and move the head in line with the rest of the body held by someone sensible to protect it.
I won’t talk about CPR here as fat arteries and failing hearts are best covered in a full first aid course where they talk about the less healthy non sporty citizen whose hearts stops because of a disease process. Heart stop in an accident is remedied by treating the cause which is most often loss of air to the lungs or loss of blood. If you make sure the victim has a clear passage of air and that if they vomit it will drain out and not in. Put pressure on any wounds that are bleeding then you will have fulfilled the ABC’s of first aid.
It’s on snow so it’s cold. Try and insulate the person from the cold snow underneath and maybe huddle round or put spare clothes on top. That means you should think about carrying something to do this such as an emergency shelter. Maybe a Blizzard pack or large Polythene bag, forget the foil wraps, you’re not cooking a turkey.
About the Author: Davy Gunn has skied for nearly 30 years and during that time has worked as a Paramedic and Ski Patroller. He has also been the leader of a busy rescue team and its medical officer. He has undertaken over 2,000 rescues of injured mountaineers and many skiers both by land and helicopter.
First Aid Training courses www.basp.org.uk