Outdoor Emergency Care: A Patroller's Guide to Medical Care

"For over eighty years the National Ski Patrol (NSP) has trained people who have successfully cared for thousands of injured snow sports enthusiasts. Early in its history an Advanced Red Cross first aid course was used for training. Since that time pre-hospital care has significantly changed. The public has greater expectations of care now, so the NSP has improved the patrol-ler's level of training to that of an NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) Emergency Medical Responder. Today there are a variety of outdoor activities available at ski areas, bike parks, and other land management areas that occur during all seasons of the year. As a result, the NSP changed the medical training of patrollers to cover not just snow sports, but a variety of other non-winter activities, including mountain biking, ziplining, downhill bike racing, and bike parks. In the mid 1980's Dr. Warren Bowman, the National Medical Advisor for the NSP creat-ed a text and course called Winter Emergency Care providing prehospital medical care training for ski patrollers. Today, the program, aptly named "Outdoor Emergency Care", is the backbone of the NSP's medical training program. It is also the standard of training for other organizations using an Emergency Medical Responder curriculum involved with outdoor recrea-tion. Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) is the primary resource for a student who wants to become a ski or bicycle patroller, or prehospital first responder called an OEC Technician. It also has value for other outdoor enthusiasts. It bridges the gap between urban medical responders with immediate access to an ambulance and advanced equipment, and wilderness search-and-rescue personnel who are several hours from advanced care. No other comprehensive medical textbook covers this niche of prehospital care . River rafters, rope-course rescuers, cavers, park rangers, mountain bike race personnel, search-and-rescue personnel, rescuers at large sporting events, and outdoor concerts will find the information in this text invaluable when providing care for patients"--