Accident response and management

Reporting accidents

All accidents must be reported by radio to the appropriate and closest and manned location: Top Hut or Patrol Base. The on-duty patrol lead will coordinate rescue efforts as required. Keep accident witnesses at the accident site until all necessary information is obtained.

Accident management

The first patroller who arrives on site will automatically be designated "patroller-in-charge". If they chose so, they may transfer this role to the next patroller arriving at the incident site. If you are the first patroller on-site, you have the responsibility for the first aid and transportation of the patient to the base area and to coordinate transportation from the base as required. You are also responsible for the accident report form and coordinating the repacking of the toboggan and transporting it back to the top. 

Along with this responsibility goes the authority to direct other patrollers at the site and assign duties. The patroller-in-charge may, at any time, ask another patroller to take charge of the accident. No other patroller should presume to take over unless asked by the patroller-in-charge. Any discussions about treatment should be held out of earshot of the patient and the public. If you have lots of help, make use of it. If you need help, ask for it.

Your responsibility ends when the accident report form has been completed, the toboggan used is restocked and returned to the top, and the injured person leaves the patrol room.

In some situations you may not have time to properly complete an accident report form.  If you don't have time or access to an accident report form, make lots of notes. When it becomes practical to do so, complete an official copy of the accident report form.

No injured or ill person is ever to be left alone in the patrol room. If you must leave, make arrangements for another patroller to take over.

Ambulance service

An ambulance must be called in the following conditions:

• The Patroller-in-Charge considers the patient will require a high level of medical attention or rapid transportation
• A patient requires transportation to the hospital and it may not be done appropriately through their own or a friend's vehicle.

Calling the ambulance may be done by using the phone in the patrol base or your personal cell phone.

The usual ambulance pick-up location is the bay outside the patrol room. Prior to the arrival of the ambulance, ensure the red gate is unlocked and opened. If the ambulance is required at another location, a patroller will need to direct the ambulance as appropriate.

Whenever a guest is transported by ambulance and is leaving their vehicle at the ski hill, record the license plate and provide it to Guest Services.

Accident forms

You should be very familiar with this form and be aware of all the sections that must be filled out when first aid is rendered.  Even a patient requesting a band-aid requires documentation, through recording in the band-aid book.

Be sure to collect names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses.  All descriptions of injury and the accident should be properly worded.

These Accident Report Forms may be viewed at a later date as legal documents.  Forms must be written neatly to allow retrieving information. Accident forms for patients under 18 should be signed by parents or guardians. If neither is at the hill, have the patient sign.

Your patrol number, name and signature are also required on the accident form.  Please do not forget to sign.

@TODO: Add a copy of the accident report form

Band-aid book

The Band-Aid book is located on the shelf above the jackets in the base. Use it when a patient comes to you with a minor injury such as a minor cut on the finger or simply require a band-aid. Make sure to ask how it happened and get a good sense of the situation leading up to the injury. If at any time you feel that this injury might have greater impacts than anticipated, proceed with the full protocol and incident report form. In such a case, it is best to have all the approriate information.

To complete a band-aid log, you will take their name, telephone number, chief complaint, date, time and enter it in the book on the last page that has entries. You will also put your name with the entry.

Accident investigation

In the case of serious injury, collision, unmarked hazards or when hill equipment (ie: towers, grooming equipment) is involved, a detailed Accident Investigation (A.I.) may be required. Include a request for an A.I. in your on-site call. Prompt treatment and evacuation of your patient remain your first priority. Protect the accident site from disturbance as much as possible.

Please refer to the Accident Investigation manual in the base hut for further procedures.

Missing person

The patrol will work in conjunction with hill management for initiating and conducting routine searches. Missing persons must be dealt with systematically. Generally, children are reported missing by a parent who has waited at the base for a period of time. Keep the parent at the lodge with a patroller or staff employee so the search can be discontinued if the missing person shows up.

Start collecting information about the missing person by filling out a Missing Person Form, which can be found in the Missing Person manual in the base patrol room. In addition, there will be a detailed manual in the base patrol room concerning searches. Please take the time to read it and have your questions answered.

Round up patrollers and start looking in obvious places like the bathroom, rental shop, or parking lot. Get the parent to provide phone numbers of friends and relatives, as children often obtain rides from friends and forget to tell whoever was originally picking them up. Calls to the missing child's home and the homes of their friends often locate the child.

These searches are the vital first approach and are usually successful. Please refer to the Missing Person manual for further procedures.

Please note that after sweep it is a good practice to look outside and see if a parent is still waiting for their child or if there are abandoned cars in the parking lot.