First aid in the snow

The piste helpers on their rescue vehicle

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moment of carelessness is enough for you to end up lying in the snow. The best advice is to remain calm whenever there is an accident on the piste. If it is possible, move away from the danger zone such as bottlenecks, knolls or ridges in order not to endanger yourself and others. And if you or someone else dials the emergency number 118, you can reckon on quick support.

118 is a magic number. It takes you directly to the provincial emergency call centre, the central coordinating centre for all South Tyrol’s rescue services. And it caters for speedy help to the farthest corners of South Tyrol with a rescue vehicle, helicopter or even with a snowmobile. In this case you notify the piste rescue service on the Alpe di Siusi immediately from there, known in short as piste service.

Piste service Alpe di Siusi. Helping is in Klaus’s

Text: Rosa Maria Erlacher Photos: Helmuth Rier

DNA. His father was in the Alpe di Siusi mountain rescue service, BRD for short. He himself, an excellent climber and skier, was also in the BRD earlier. During the warm seasons he works in his profession, but is always on call whenever it is essential to speed to all kinds of accidents in the mountains. Voluntary and unpaid work and risking his life at the same time. A friendly helping hand. »

First aid in Rescue on the pistes in action 20 ALPE | Winter

n the snow Winter | ALPE 21

In order to be able to offer properly qualified first aid, he spends a lot of his spare time training for emergencies with the main emphasis on piste rescue. This winter he and his friend Robert have reported for piste rescue service on the Alpe di Siusi full-time at all weathers daily from morning to evening as long as the pistes are open. If a lot is happening at weekends and peak seasons, they are supported by voluntary helpers. Otherwise they could hardly cope with those days with up to 20 operations!

The Aiut Alpin rescue helicopter knows how to deal with difficult situations

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700 operations. The mountain rescue service has carried out the piste service for many years commissioned by the lift operating company Alpe di Siusi –Val Gardena, as safety on their pistes is close to their heart. They also support the police, known as the Carabinieri in Italy, who have to guarantee public safety on pistes and carry out investigations in the event of accidents.

According to Klaus, the piste service of BRD and the Carabinieri recorded more than 700 opera-

> February 7, 2012

South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Alpe di Siusi

Klaus and Robert enjoy working as piste rescuers

tions last winter on the Alpe di Siusi. About 75 per cent of these involved skiers and snowboarders, in about 70 operations tobogganers were rescued and the rest involved hikers and cross-country skiers. They have covered more than 5,000km in their snowmobiles and 50 times the rescue helicopter had to be requested because there was a suspicion of grave injuries or because it did not appear to be advisable to move the injured party over the piste for other reasons.

The moon will be astounded when it peeks over the Dolomites. Because that’s when the starting pistol will fire for a cross-country marathon of a most unusual kind. At 8 p.m., namely, several hundred cross-country skiers will shove off from Compaccio and glide on their narrow skis in the light of their forehead-mounted lamps through the luminescent night-time winter landscape.

They’ll follow the route for 20 or 36 kilometers, finally returning to their starting point. But the „South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Alpe di Siusi“ is a fantastic experience not only for the participants, but for the spectators, too! A ski show with veterans, romantic alphorn sounds in the stillness of the night, traditional dishes and a fire show provide the perfect setting for the crosscountry race. www.moonlightclassic.info

In action. State-of-the-art equipment is needed to provide the best possible patient care for causalities. Rescuers must be on the spot within a few minutes in order to help, whether a matter of traumas or medical emergencies. For this reason rescue vehicles and emergency rucksacks are always ready. A rescue sledge, vacuum mattress and warming sleeping bag are used to bring patients down to the valley as carefully as possible. It is a boot-shaped aluminium sledge attached to a snow mobile. The rucksack contains a first aid kit with oxygen and an external semi-automatic defibrillator (AED), a medical device that can stop arrhythmia by quick shocks and for which both piste rescuers have been specially trained.

Lift personnel and ski instructors often turn out to be valuable helpers at the accident location. Whenever the rescue helicopter is required the piste has to be closed off. Accordingly it is important that communication between pistes and air rescue has to function perfectly. The same is true whenever »

Winter | ALPE 23

Air rescue and piste service work perfectly together

the patient is handed over to the paramedics of the rescue vehicle. The medical measurement data taken at the accident location is passed on and can be very valuable for further medical care.

Everything ok? The piste rescuers let their eyes wander across their area of operation, Alpe di Siusi’s piste and path network

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“For a start, we have to take the patient somewhere warm, for instance the first aid station at Compaccio, or the rescue vehicle comes as close as possible to us and takes us from there, possibly with an emergency doctor, to the nearest hospital,” Klaus explains how the rescue chain functions consistently.

A variety of activities. “Piste service covers very much more than only piste rescue,” comments Klaus. For example to start with the rescuers have to use a lot of psychological finesse to calm down patients, understand their fears, explain what is going to happen and inform and attend to the next of kin. They work closely with the Carabinieri, if they are investigating the accident, and they are also the point of contact for parents whose children are missing. “That happens often,” Klaus relates, “but usually the children report back of their own accord or we track them down very quickly.”

Finally, they can rely on a network of helpers, lift personnel, ski instructors, innkeepers etc, who all keep their eyes and ears open and are happy to help whenever it is necessary.

Only seldom do both piste rescuers find the time to relax in front of the TV, to bask in the winter sun or to ski without stress. In addition to rescuing, they also pass on their knowledge. For instance, when they prepare volunteers for piste rescue, or whenever they introduce school classes and ski course participants to the basics of first aid and safety precautions on and away from ski pistes.

Because as we so aptly say: prevention is better than cure. «