Searching in parallel: harnessing manpower in beacon rescues
Posted on 16 March 2010
Edge
http://backcountryaccess.com/blog/?p=1303
By now, you’ve probably heard about the epic avalanche incident last Saturday in Turbo Bowl near Revelstoke, BC. Over two hundred people were attending a highmarking event when the entire bowl slid, burying 30 snowmobilers. Miraculously only two were killed, thanks to some very organized rescuers who sprung into action at the event–and to the rescuers that arrived immediately from neighboring heli-ski and search-and-rescue teams.
This incident could certainly be labelled a “worst case” scenario: a multiple burial with many victims in close proximity. We’re looking forward to speaking with some of the rescuers involved to see what techniques were used. If you were there, please get in touch with us.
We have been refining a technique for just such scenarios involving lots of manpower. We call it “searching in parallel.” The object is to use as many people as possible in the beacon search so that each rescuer has a very narrow search strip width–and therefore each searcher is assured of locating a different victim than the other searchers. This way the rescue simply becomes several single-burial scenarios performed “in parallel.” Check out the video, below, that we made last fall on the Dachstein Glacier, Austria with BCA Austrian distributor Franz Hohensinn, BCA European Technical Manager Dieter Stopper and members of the Austria Mountain Rescue Team. Note how Dieter only commits to following the directional lights on his Tracker2 when the distance reading is less than his ten-meter search strip width:
VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUI4dIB7OYU&feature=player_embedded
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Why are we working on refining this technique? Because it makes a lot more sense for several people to look for one or more people than for one person to search for several people. We’ve spent years training ourselves, our reps, and our distributors how to do epic multiple-victim beacon searches with four or more victims all buried in close proximity. We do this mainly so we can train guides taking certification exams. This has been quite a commitment considering the extremely limited number of cases where these techniques would ever apply (see “Digging Deeper: Uncovering the Real Issues in North American Multiple Burials” on our Research page). It’s also very time consuming. But when we started doing the same scenarios as a group rather than as individuals, it took a fraction of the time. And it gives our reps the chance to organize a rescue, which is always an extremely valuable experience. So we’ve changed our training focus at BCA from complicated individual scenarios to more applicable skills like strategic shoveling and group rescue.
If somebody is training to locate several avalanche victims at a time, then he (or she) is making an important assumption: that others are available to shovel while he continues searching for the next victim. Otherwise, he must start shoveling as soon as he locates the first victim. So we kept asking ourselves, “if there’s shoveling manpower available, why wouldn’t you harness this manpower to help with the beacon search–especially now that (digital) beacons are so easy to use?” We’ve often wondered why most heli-ski operators don’t train their guests to search in this way.
Ethically speaking, searching in parallel as a group is also fairer to the victims than searching in series as an individual. The victims’ survival chances are equalized since the first victim found is no longer the focus of the recovery effort. If there’s limited manpower then there’s no choice but to focus on the first signal. But with adequate manpower, it makes sense to give everyone an equal shot at recovery.
Finally, it’s important to remember that shoveling manpower is almost always the crux in an avalanche rescue. You should have at least two shovelers per victim if that victim is buried more than a meter deep. If you don’t have this kind of manpower, then your only choice is to search in series, excavating each victim as you go. There’s no sense in searching in parallel if you can’t shovel in parallel too. That’s why searching in parallel should only be taught to those traveling in groups of four or more (such as SAR teams and commercially guided groups) or where others equipped with beacons can be recruited to take part in the search (for example, at ski resorts and popular highmarking destinations–like Turbo Bowl). Searching in parallel is probably already being taught at some levels in various forms, under a different name. But to my knowledge, it has not been formalized. So this is a start.
We’re not sure if “searching in parallel” was used or not at Turbo Bowl last weekend, but it certainly would have been an appropriate setting. Whatever happened after the accident, it was done right. We look forward to hearing the detailed reports as they emerge. We send our condolences to the families of the two unfortunate snowmobilers who didn’t survive.
Posted on 16 March 2010
Edge
http://backcountryaccess.com/blog/?p=1303
By now, you’ve probably heard about the epic avalanche incident last Saturday in Turbo Bowl near Revelstoke, BC. Over two hundred people were attending a highmarking event when the entire bowl slid, burying 30 snowmobilers. Miraculously only two were killed, thanks to some very organized rescuers who sprung into action at the event–and to the rescuers that arrived immediately from neighboring heli-ski and search-and-rescue teams.
This incident could certainly be labelled a “worst case” scenario: a multiple burial with many victims in close proximity. We’re looking forward to speaking with some of the rescuers involved to see what techniques were used. If you were there, please get in touch with us.
We have been refining a technique for just such scenarios involving lots of manpower. We call it “searching in parallel.” The object is to use as many people as possible in the beacon search so that each rescuer has a very narrow search strip width–and therefore each searcher is assured of locating a different victim than the other searchers. This way the rescue simply becomes several single-burial scenarios performed “in parallel.” Check out the video, below, that we made last fall on the Dachstein Glacier, Austria with BCA Austrian distributor Franz Hohensinn, BCA European Technical Manager Dieter Stopper and members of the Austria Mountain Rescue Team. Note how Dieter only commits to following the directional lights on his Tracker2 when the distance reading is less than his ten-meter search strip width:
VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUI4dIB7OYU&feature=player_embedded
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<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BUI4dIB7OYU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></object></p> <!--EndFragment-->
Why are we working on refining this technique? Because it makes a lot more sense for several people to look for one or more people than for one person to search for several people. We’ve spent years training ourselves, our reps, and our distributors how to do epic multiple-victim beacon searches with four or more victims all buried in close proximity. We do this mainly so we can train guides taking certification exams. This has been quite a commitment considering the extremely limited number of cases where these techniques would ever apply (see “Digging Deeper: Uncovering the Real Issues in North American Multiple Burials” on our Research page). It’s also very time consuming. But when we started doing the same scenarios as a group rather than as individuals, it took a fraction of the time. And it gives our reps the chance to organize a rescue, which is always an extremely valuable experience. So we’ve changed our training focus at BCA from complicated individual scenarios to more applicable skills like strategic shoveling and group rescue.
If somebody is training to locate several avalanche victims at a time, then he (or she) is making an important assumption: that others are available to shovel while he continues searching for the next victim. Otherwise, he must start shoveling as soon as he locates the first victim. So we kept asking ourselves, “if there’s shoveling manpower available, why wouldn’t you harness this manpower to help with the beacon search–especially now that (digital) beacons are so easy to use?” We’ve often wondered why most heli-ski operators don’t train their guests to search in this way.
Ethically speaking, searching in parallel as a group is also fairer to the victims than searching in series as an individual. The victims’ survival chances are equalized since the first victim found is no longer the focus of the recovery effort. If there’s limited manpower then there’s no choice but to focus on the first signal. But with adequate manpower, it makes sense to give everyone an equal shot at recovery.
Finally, it’s important to remember that shoveling manpower is almost always the crux in an avalanche rescue. You should have at least two shovelers per victim if that victim is buried more than a meter deep. If you don’t have this kind of manpower, then your only choice is to search in series, excavating each victim as you go. There’s no sense in searching in parallel if you can’t shovel in parallel too. That’s why searching in parallel should only be taught to those traveling in groups of four or more (such as SAR teams and commercially guided groups) or where others equipped with beacons can be recruited to take part in the search (for example, at ski resorts and popular highmarking destinations–like Turbo Bowl). Searching in parallel is probably already being taught at some levels in various forms, under a different name. But to my knowledge, it has not been formalized. So this is a start.
We’re not sure if “searching in parallel” was used or not at Turbo Bowl last weekend, but it certainly would have been an appropriate setting. Whatever happened after the accident, it was done right. We look forward to hearing the detailed reports as they emerge. We send our condolences to the families of the two unfortunate snowmobilers who didn’t survive.
