A Rescuer's Perspective

Here's an interesting video shot from the helmet cam of a rescuer in Banff National Park.



More information at the Adventure Journal

Wear your helmets out there!!

Ice Climbing Fall

The Internet is becoming a great source of accident post-mortem videos, and here is another in the genre. The video and online comments here and here are educational.


Fall on Vimeo: thanks to Jeffrey Butler for sharing.

Spring Avalanche

Backcountry ski conditions have been good, and we still have a couple months to go in our spring season. Avalanche risk in the spring is normally lower than mid-winter. But it can happen.

Here's an educational video published by a Swiss skier who was caught in an avalanche recently.



The skier suffered broken vertebra, but survived. Thanks to thomasiasus for sharing.

Group Decision Making

We've had heavy snowfall recently, and BAMRU is looking forward to more winter trainings over the coming weeks. During these trainings, we sometimes discuss team decision making, and consider the inter-personal dynamics that help keep a group safe.

This video shows Montana skiers who were caught in an avalanche and rescued by nearby first responders. It highlights group decisions that led to a negative outcome.



Accident reports are a valuable learning tool. Thanks to the Montana skiers for sharing.

Related Material: Accidents in North American Mountaineering

Medical Training

On Saturday, October 23rd, fifteen BAMRU members attended a Medical Training near Mt. Diablo.

Following morning coffee, we split into teams and packed our jump bags for the day, which gave us an opportunity to (re)familiarise ourselves with the medical equipment we would be using. We then rotated through four 45-minute skill stations, covering splinting, vacuum splint, traction splint, and vital signs. We then regrouped for lunch and a quiz.

In the afternoon, we put our skills to the test. We relocated to the wilderness, about 10 minutes hike from the road. At this point, a majority of BAMRU members attending the training sustained serious injuries. Issues included a chain saw wound, a long fall, an asthma attack, a mountain biking accident, and chest pain. BAMRU members were on hand to provide quick, effective assessments and treatments.

Following the afternoon scenarios, washed the mud off our shoes, and enjoyed a BBQ dinner.

CIS

During our operations, it is unusual for BAMRU members to be exposed to victims with severe trauma, or to terrible accident scenes. But from time to time it does happen, and we know from experience that the emotions and intense energy of a difficult event can linger.

In the past, BAMRU has brought in mental health facilitators for proactive stress management training. On a few occasions, we have conducted 'Critical Incident Stress Debriefings' (CISD) after a difficult operation.

Beyond that, we strive to keep an open dialog within our team, to acknowledge that critical incident stress does happen, for our new trainees as well as experienced responders. We encourage our members to share experiences and recovery strategies.

BAMRU is grateful to the San Mateo Sheriff's Office for their CISD support and mental health services for first responders. And we give profound thanks to BAMRU's volunteer members for the sometimes difficult community service they provide.

More about CIS:
http://www.criticalincidentstress.com/what_is_cism_
http://www.icisf.org/cis.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_incident_stress_management

Western States UltraMarathon

Last Saturday (June 26) through Sunday morning, BAMRU (& friends) provided medical support for the WS-100 trans-Sierra Ultra endurance run. Stationed at mile 85 was Lucas, Martha, Cal, Jenny (Marin SAR), & Eva (Bellingham Fire). At the finish line was Tom, Kira, Callum, Bill, & Colin.



Throughout the night we evaluated 345 runners and treated severe dehydration, muscle/skeletal issues, blisters, hypothermia, extreme exhaustion, GI issues, hyponatremia, and a case of renal failure. The night progressively got busy and the team did an amazing job handling whatever was thrown our way. The team-work and attitude was amazing, even after 26hrs of no sleep. Huge thanks to all who helped! We did our best to help athletes realize their dream of a 100 mile ultra.

Climbing Injury

A quick story about a climbing injury yesterday from a BAMRU member...

So yesterday I go climbing with a guy. We've been at the crag maybe 20 minutes, he starts leading a sport route. Clips the first bolt no problem. Second bolt is significantly higher, almost seems too high and super sketch. He flails for a good 2-3 minutes trying to get to next bolt but finally throws a cam in a crack just below waist level. He pulls up rope to clip the cam and, you guessed it, he misses and woosh!

He falls a solid 20 feet, flips, landing head (helmeted) & neck first on a ledge 15 feet above me. Unconscious for a good 10-15 seconds.

Finally sits up and blood starts pouring out of his helmet down the rock like a waterfall. I escape belay and scramble up to the guy who is woozy but A&O x 4, throw a sam splint collar on and hold pressure on his scalp lac. Bystanders run down trail to road to drive about 15 minutes to get cell reception to call 911.

Mtn Rescue arrives soon thereafter and rigs a high angle to a steep angle and subject goes to hospital.

Subject seen at hospital later that evening and discharged. No skull or c-spine fracture or intracranial bleed, just a solid lac where his helmet impacted and the adjuster strap dug into his skin.

Bottom line folks, not that you ever doubted it, please, please wear your helmets, even for a quick jaunt to a sport crag, stuff happens. If this guy were unhelmetted, I'm scared to think of how this scenario would've turned out. Fortunately, all he has is a smallish laceration and was back out drinking beer later last night.

Wilderness Medicine at Stanford

Yesterday BAMRU presented to the Stanford Wilderness Medicine Class with an overview of various aspects of mountain search and rescue. The first part of the class included lecture with hands on class room sessions. The second session covers practical stations focusing on patient packaging and carry outs. Hats off to BAMRU's eight instructors for training and building relationships with our Wilderness Medicine community.