Over and over again, you are confronted with the fact that friends or acquaintances unexpectedly want to go on a tour or go freeriding, but their knowledge and skills in avalanche rescue do not meet the requirements of an emergency. However, it is well known that the experience and skills of group members in companion rescue are your own life insurance in the event of an accident, because they are the first on the scene of the accident and can be the first to start the rescue. So what to do? Make yourself unpopular and send inexperienced people home, or tacitly take the inexperienced with you, knowing full well that you are facing a fiasco in an emergency.
The results of Manuel Genswein's field test show a third way... Everyone will be happy to support the idea that you should only go on tour with experienced, well-trained and reliable companions. However, the reality is often different: Time and again, group members are present whose rescue know-how is probably not sufficient in an emergency to successfully locate and dig out one or more buried victims. The skills of all group members are of crucial importance, which is demonstrated by the fact that the well-trained group members are usually also the more experienced and better skiers/snowboarders, who are usually the first to descend. And those who descend first are at a statistically higher risk of triggering an avalanche and being buried. Therefore, all group members should always know what to do in an emergency. An extensive field test (2009) by Manuel Genswein produced astonishing results: beginners are able to achieve good rescue results after just 15 minutes of instruction.
Avalanche training field test by Manuel Genswein with guests from ski and mountain schools (Oberlech, Arlberg)
Avalanche rescue expert Manuel Genswein developed a 15-minute crash course curriculum in a large field test with completely inexperienced guests from ski and mountain guides, which led to astonishing results. After 15 minutes of training, the guests had to locate and dig out two buried victims in a 50 by 80 meter search field. This search field size, in very soft snow with a corresponding sinking depth, corresponds to the average size of typical skier avalanches. The aim of the test was to show what results can be achieved with optimal instruction and equipment. Consequently, the rescue volunteers were equipped with ideal rescue equipment: LVS, avalanche probe and shovel.
A total of 83 guests from 14 professionally guided groups (of ski and mountain guides and ski instructors) took part in the test. Their average age was rather high at 53 years; 17 guests were already over 65 years old. The test subjects were equipped with very good avalanche shovels and probes as well as three-antenna avalanche transceivers with a marking function before the briefing. After the instruction, the following parameters were recorded during the rescue exercises:
The time required for the signal search until the first signal was received.
The time required from the first reception until the start of the fine search.
The time required for the fine search: Search time during the last few meters until a clear distance minimum was identified.
Search time: Time until the probe was hit.
First contact with the buried victim (= in the experiment a large firewood sack filled with straw)
Time until the buried victim is uncovered
Content of the 15-minute training course
Installing the probe and shovel
Basic use of the avalanche transceiver: Switching on and off, activating search mode
Practical search with the avalanche transceiver: searching for a transmitter once each at a distance of 35 meters
Introduction to signal search: primary search phase in which the avalanche transceiver does not yet receive a signal.
Coarse search with the device held horizontally in the search direction indicated by the device
Fine search from 3 meters distance display: device directly above the snow surface (without crossing out). Mark the point with the smallest distance display with the shovel
Searching for points using a probe: probe spiral. Buried victim found with probe.
Rescuing buried victims: Brief introduction to the V-shaped snow conveyor belt including rotation of the members of the digging team to increase efficiency. The guests were told how to position themselves during excavation, how to cut blocks with the avalanche shovel and how to remove the snow.
The results
The subsequent rescue attempt, in which two buried victims had to be located and rescued, produced the following results: After an average of 6:39 minutes, the first buried victim was uncovered! The fastest time was 4:20 minutes, the slowest 22:30 minutes. On average, the fine location of the second victim was started after 11:55 minutes, who was recovered after an average of 15:43 minutes. The fastest time was 6:48, the slowest 27 minutes. If the signal from the avalanche transceiver of the located buried victim was not faded out using the "marker function", the rescuers stated that they often had great difficulty in detaching themselves from the first buried victim and locating the second when the distance displayed by the avalanche transceiver increased. This explains the large time difference between rescuing the first victim and locating the second.
Conclusion
The fact that completely inexperienced winter sports enthusiasts are able to rescue buried victims in acceptable times after a short 15-minute training session shows that the group constellation mentioned at the beginning of the article can generally be avoided. A brief but serious briefing makes it possible for the vast majority of winter sports enthusiasts to rescue one or two buried victims in an acceptable time. The fact that another person was located and rescued within the critical 15-minute survival time is impressive proof of the great progress made by the three-antenna devices used. The transition between the first and second buried victim caused particular problems during the search if the rescuers were unable to hide the first buried victim using the marker function. Free download of the original article in the specialist magazine BergUndSteigen
