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Ski areas are supplementing the NSP's OEC training because that allows them to provide a broader and deeper scope of care, such as giving intravenous pain medication, said Ryan Bentley, paid patrol director at Soldier Mountain, near Fairfield. Eskelson said there are benefits to NSP affiliation. Because the OEC program is the same nationwide, NSP patrollers receive the same training no matter where they take the course.
Idaho law sets a minimum standard for ski patrol training. But some ski areas are hiring patrollers with additional training to provide more extensive medical care to injured skiers and snowboarders.
Idaho ski areas are required by state law "to provide a ski patrol with qualifications meeting the standards of the national ski patrol system." So at a minimum, all ski patrollers in Idaho must have training equal to the NSP's Outdoor Emergency Care training course. But ski patrols don't have to be affiliated with NSP, said Scott Eskelson, legal adviser for the NSP's Intermountain Division and a ski patroller at Kelly Canyon, near Ririe.
At Sun Valley, while all ski patrollers are NSP-affiliated, 14 are also part-time paramedics.
"They can give pain meds on the hill," said Mike Lloyd, ski patrol director for Sun Valley. "It's just an added care for the sick and injured."
At Tamarack, the ski patrol remains affiliated with NSP, and also functions as its own medical services agency. In that case, 90 percent of the patrollers were already EMTs, and to retain their certification, they needed to be affiliated with an EMS agency.
"So we became one," said Mike Lancaster, ski patrol director at Tamarack. "We can do some more advanced patient care on the mountain that you couldn't do under the OEC training."
For decades, ski hills have relied on a corps of NSP-trained volunteer ski patrollers - along with some paid patrollers - to provide first aid services to skiers and snowboarders. These uniformly trained volunteers provide a low-cost way for resorts to keep their guests safe.
NSP's OEC course is similar to an EMT certification course. It teaches participants how to evaluate and stabilize a patient - including lifting a patient and removing gear without exacerbating injuries - in a nonurban environment. The course is oriented toward ski and snowboard injuries in a high-altitude and cold-weather environment.
Ski areas are supplementing the NSP's OEC training because that allows them to provide a broader and deeper scope of care, such as giving intravenous pain medication, said Ryan Bentley, paid patrol director at Soldier Mountain, near Fairfield.
That's especially important in remote locations far from hospitals.
"People have found new and interesting ways to injure themselves in the mountains of Idaho," said Dr. Bill Morgan, trauma medical director at Saint Alphonsus Trauma Center. Morgan is one of several medical providers presenting at the Saint Alphonsus Ski & Mountain Trauma Conference in Sun Valley this fall. "It's going to take that person who's in the backcountry ... a longer time to get from that injury to definitive care."
The intensive training is required of both volunteers and paid ski patrollers.
"We all have to meet certain criteria to become a ski patroller," said Ron Reed, a ski patroller and OEC instructor who volunteers at Soldier Mountain and Pomerelle, near Burley. "It's a pretty intense course. ... If you can't pass the course, you don't become a patroller."
Eskelson said there are benefits to NSP affiliation. Because the OEC program is the same nationwide, NSP patrollers receive the same training no matter where they take the course.
"Everybody is practicing a uniform standard of care," he said.
However, the OEC course doesn't qualify ski patrollers as paramedics, so an injured person being cared for by a ski patroller will have to wait until he gets to an ambulance or clinic before receiving intravenous pain medication for a serious injury.
Tamarack is hoping to fill that gap by providing paramedic services on the mountain, Lancaster said.
"It gives us the opportunity to make the patient more comfortable," he said.
Lancaster said three of Tamarack's ski patrollers are paramedics.
The EMT or paramedic certifications for ski patrollers are more expensive than the NSP's OEC training course.
"That's one of the big reasons why we haven't gone that route," said Bentley, of Soldier Mountain, which has a roughly 1-to-4 ratio of paid versus volunteer ski patrollers.
Other mountains, like Sun Valley and Schweitzer Mountain, near Sandpoint, have paid-only patrols.
"We're probably one of the few that don't use volunteers," said Bill Williamson, mountain operations director at Schweitzer, which has about 30 patrollers. Avalanche control, which involves working with explosives, is a daily task at Schweitzer, and its patrollers have additional avalanche training.
Sun Valley's fully paid patrol includes 35 full-time and 11 part-time ski patrollers and five supervisors, in addition to the 14 part-time paramedics.
Tamarack has a full-time, paid staff of seven ski patrollers and a small volunteer staff, Lancaster said. On the other end of the spectrum, Bogus Basin has about 45 paid ski patrollers and 120 or 130 volunteers, according to J.C. "Jaker" Merlini, pro patrol director at Bogus.
"We're one of the largest patrols in the Pacific Northwest," he said.
Volunteer and paid ski patrollers qualified through NSP typically pay to take the OEC course and any additional training. The cost to get started as a ski patroller including the OEC course, materials and dues, is about $300, Reed said.
"It's a personal cost," he said. "You've got to have the heart that you want to help somebody."
Ski areas do offer incentives to draw volunteers. Depending on how many hours a patroller volunteers each year and his level of training - NSP offers continuing education, and after three years, patrollers can test to become certified at the senior level - resorts may offer free lift tickets, free or discounted family passes, and discounts at food and gear shops.
The NSP also offers gear and other discounts through corporate partnerships. But ski patrollers say the job is far less about the perks than it is about volunteerism.
"Once you get into it, there's really not as much of a benefit financially," said Dain Bates, patrol representative for Payette Lakes Ski Patrol in McCall. "To me, anymore, it's just a part of who you are. ... There's a lot of camaraderie, and we look out for each other."
"It's a lot cheaper just to go skiing," Bentley said. "This is a way to recreate and have it count for something."
Ski patrol training doesn't end at OEC
Members from several Idaho ski patrols planned to attend the Saint Alphonsus Ski & Mountain Trauma Conference Nov. 7-9.
"We've got a big crew wanting to go to that to enhance our skills," said Ron Reed, a volunteer ski patroller and outdoor emergency care instructor. "Hopefully none of us believe that we know it all."
The three-day conference is not required training for ski patrollers under Idaho law, but it meets continuing education requirements for emergency medical technicians, according to Mike Lancaster, ski patrol director at Tamarack.
The conference features lectures, presentations and hands-on workshops focusing on wilderness medicine and traumatic injuries.
"We're trying to gear it toward guys who have no medical training," said Dr. Bill Morgan, trauma medical director at Saint Alphonsus Trauma Center and a presenter at the conference. "It allows them to ask questions of the experts."
Ski patrollers can also get continuing education through the National Ski Patrol, including avalanche, mountain travel and rescue, and instructor training.
"We encourage our patrollers to continue on and get advanced training," said Dain Bates, patrol representative for Payette Lakes Ski Patrol. "When it comes down to it, if there's a severe accident on the mountain, we're going to want to send a senior-level patroller to that."
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Credit: Cady McGovern
(Copyright 2013 Dolan Media Newswires. All Rights Reserved)