Joint Avalanche Rescue Training
On Tuesday night (March 28), Vail Mountain Rescue Group, Beaver Creek Ski Patrol and paramedics from Eagle County Paramedic Services deployed together on a joint training mission in backcountry terrain just outside Beaver Creek Mountain’s ski area boundary. Coordinated by an incident command based at the Beaver Creek Chapel, three teams of skiers and snowshoers responded to a simulated but realistic avalanche scenario that had been staged at the top of Paulie’s Plunge. The responders worked together to locate, stabilize, and evacuate three buried victims, as well as a fourth simulated victim who had escaped the avalanche but had become lost in the creek drainage. The exercise concluded just after 7:30 p.m. with a debriefing at the Beaver Creek Chapel incident command center.
In an actual avalanche incident, all three of these groups would be called out to find and extricate any victims, making this a valuable exercise in practicing for future inter-agency missions. Thanks to the members of Beaver Creek Ski Patrol, Eagle County Paramedic Services, and the volunteer members of Vail Mountain Rescue Group, for making this training a success.
Polar Star Mission
Just before 7 a.m. on March 20, skiers staying at the Polar Star Inn 10th Mountain Division hut on the west side of New York Mountain texted 911 to request the immediate evacuation of a member of their party who had suffered fractured ribs and possible internal injuries in a fall. Vail Mountain Rescue Group dispatched a team of rescuers and an Eagle County Paramedic Services SAR amedic to snowmobile to the hut. After assessing and stabilizing the skier’s injuries, the rescuers evacuated the patient to the Yeoman Park trailhead; from there, an ambulance transported the subject to Vail Valley Medical Center. All rescuers were out of the field by 1:45 p.m. Thanks to all the resources that participated in this rescue, including Eagle County Paramedic Services, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Vail Dispatch, and the volunteer members of Vail Mountain Rescue Group.