Ski patrollers were forced to think quickly on their feet this weekend after being surprised by a training simulation that was so intense some members thought it was real.
With winter approaching, P.E.I. members of the Canadian Ski Patrol (CSP) held their annual field day training session at Brookvale Provincial Ski Park and Nordic Centre on Saturday.
With members being trained for physical and medical emergencies, their skills were put to the test during a full casualty simulation that involved eight different emergency scenarios ranging from a car crash to anaphylactic shock.
It was so realistic that when members, who were not told of the simulation beforehand, first arrived to the Nordic Centre one patroller began dialling 911.
“It was so real. I stopped him when he was dialling the last 1,” said Mark Scott, a new recruit of the CSP.
Craig Taggart, a recruitment officer and instructor, said the day started with a mock chairlift evacuation at the downhill ski site, with patrollers then being asked to go to the Nordic Centre to practice some other techniques.
“They didn’t’ realize that when they arrived here at the Nordic Centre, we had a full scenario going on,” said Taggart.
When patrollers arrived in the parking lot, they first encountered a person who appeared to be crushed between two cars.
The situation only escalated from there.
“As (the car scene) was going on, we then had somebody who had burned themselves (inside). Somebody raced outside to get help for the burn victim and tripped, giving themselves a concussion,” said Taggart. “A few minutes after that, we had a person walking around who ate a cookie and went into anaphylactic shock.”
That was followed by scenarios involving a ski technician who sliced her hand open, a cross-country runner suffering from hypothermia and an individual who cut their finger off while in diabetic shock. There was also a cycling collision on the trail that left two patients with various injuries.
Last, but not least, was a scenario of a young girl who was trying to find her mother, who was epileptic.
It required all members to use their training while also working as a team.
Jessica Smith, another new recruit, helped with the hypothermia scenario before then bringing bandages and other first aid supplies to patrollers tending to the other scenarios.
Smith said the realistic experience was very valuable.
“You can sit down and study it as much you want, but until you kind of have to do it fast and accurate in a real life situation that’s when you kind of everything starts to click.”
In total, the exercise saw about 25 patrollers tend to 12 patients almost simultaneously.
“It was a cascading injury, so we had every single one of our members involved at one point along the way because they just had to keep pulling the resources to go and help,” said Taggart, who was pleased with the group. “Patient care was good, the patrollers were able to deal with the situation… we discovered a couple little tweaks we need to make, but overall everybody did really well.”
Patrollers continued to practice emergency techniques in the afternoon.
For many of the patrollers, especially new members, the day was an eye-opening experience.
“It makes training feel a lot more real and gives you an eye opener for what you could actually run into, not only here but in everyday life too right,” said Scott.
Meghan Ching, another new recruit, agreed.
“Getting to do these scenarios really equips us for whenever we do come across a situation on the hill.”
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