Summit
Critical Crazy
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Avalanche mission. Very sad. Hours and hours.
A dog finally finds the guy and we dig through the heavy debris. We finally dig the guy up. In the hole are 3 SAR EMTs (including me) and a ski patroller from a nearby resort rapid deployment team (supposed to be an experienced guy). I'm holding up the dead pt and checking for a pulse I know is not there. Another EMT is holding the Pts mouth open for the OPA that has been handed to the ski patrolle. Most ski patrollers start out as OEC (EMT-Lite, outdoor emergency care) and then get their EMT. This guy had to have been an EMT for at least a year if not 3 or 4. He kept on trying to put the OPA in the wrong way. I and another EMT yelled "upside down! turn the OPA over!" a couple of times before the other EMT who wasn't supproting the pt simply grabbed it from the patrollers hands, turned it the way it should, inserted and turned.
The patient was very dead so it didn't matter in the end, but yeesh! You would think someone who has been a medical professional for 3-5 years would know how to put in a friggin OPA!
A dog finally finds the guy and we dig through the heavy debris. We finally dig the guy up. In the hole are 3 SAR EMTs (including me) and a ski patroller from a nearby resort rapid deployment team (supposed to be an experienced guy). I'm holding up the dead pt and checking for a pulse I know is not there. Another EMT is holding the Pts mouth open for the OPA that has been handed to the ski patrolle. Most ski patrollers start out as OEC (EMT-Lite, outdoor emergency care) and then get their EMT. This guy had to have been an EMT for at least a year if not 3 or 4. He kept on trying to put the OPA in the wrong way. I and another EMT yelled "upside down! turn the OPA over!" a couple of times before the other EMT who wasn't supproting the pt simply grabbed it from the patrollers hands, turned it the way it should, inserted and turned.
The patient was very dead so it didn't matter in the end, but yeesh! You would think someone who has been a medical professional for 3-5 years would know how to put in a friggin OPA!