Struggling

I've been struggling with what I want to write on here.

I'd love to recount stories of SAR callouts, and I have for some one the more interesting ones, but I've found that for the most part 90% of them follow the same basic outline:

-Hiker/Skier/Snowmobiler is TLS (Tired/Lonely (or lost)/Scared) and calls us
-We usually have a good idea where he/she is
-We hike in
-We hike them out (yes, if they can hike out they weren't that hurt in the first place...)

There have been some interesting ones but they've been few and far between (and I've written about most of them).

So, what should I write about? I'd love to talk some about how I see technology helping and hurting our search and rescue team. Or, even the general attitudes in EMS and medicine. Any other ideas?

Fuck it all

My parents are some of the healthiest people in their mid fifties I've ever meet. Between the two of them they've:

• Ridden bikes from one side of our home state to the other
• Kayaked the ENTIRE Missouri river from Montana to St. Louis
  
• Hiked the entire Ozark Trail
• Spent weeks in Banff, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, Arches, Colorado, and god knows how many other places backpacking

They eat right, sleep lots, exercise a ton (in a healthy, no obsessive way), and live outside the city.

And in the past six months they've both been diagnosed with cancer.

What
The
Fuck

Search and Rescue/Helicopter Demonstration at WMS Conference

Improv

Scenario: Broken femur, three pitches up an ice climb. You can't reach the patient from the top. Hence, you can only bring in whatever gear you can put in your pack. No littler, no sled. 600 feet of rope and an air splint. How are you going to bring him down?

Fuck it, assess it, splint it, toss him on your shoulders, and go...

Please Thank a Military Family This Christmas

Thank The Troops...

But Thank Their Families Too

My parents have always encouraged my brother and myself to give generously to charity growing up- especially around the holidays. I've always felt lucky and a little guilty to be from a family that (through no help of my own) has always been comfortable financially.

This year, we decided to help Military families. Despite giving up years of their lives for our country our soldiers are not paid very well and many of their families are hurting. There's a great website based out of my home state which has dedicated itself to helping these families:

http://www.thankmilitaryfamilies.com/

It may be a little late for this holiday season (contact them if you're interested) but please keep this in mind for the future.

Happy Holidays!

What will save your life?

Will this save your life?
Not without this:


Or This:

If you play in the woods in the winter there is absolutely no excuse for you not to have the proper gear. In the mountains, that means an avalanche beacon, AND and probe, AND a shovel. We just pulled our first two avalanche victims of the year out. One was air flighted out, the other wasn't. Why? They don't fly dead bodies. Guess which one we got to first? Guess which one had a beacon on?

Snowshoeing
Hiking
Skiing
Snow Boarding
Snowmobiling

If there is any white stuff on the ground you need to plan accordingly:

• First and foremost get trained. Take at least a basic avalanche course or better yet a level one certification. You can find a list of providers in your area here
• Second, make sure you have the right equipment. This means a beacon, probe, shovel, and extra batteries. EVERYONE in your party should have the same. Anything else is sure idiocy
  
• Finally, use your head. Be "that guy". The one who says the conditions are too dangerous and makes everyone turn around. Testosterone is a neurotoxin- most avalanche victims claim to have had a poor impression of the conditions, but pushed ahead anyway for reasons of pride or ego. Neither one of those do you much good if you're dead.

Be safe, be smart, come home alive!

Dear Mr. Flight Nurse

Dear Mr. Flight Nurse,
I'm sorry we weren't able to hand you our last patient with an IV ready to go. I know it must have been incredibly frustrating for you too have to do it yourself in the warmth of your helicopter. You see, for some reason I didn't quite have the sensitivity in my fingers to get it right. Oh yeah, that's right, because it was 25 degrees. That's maybe why the patient's skin was f-ing freezing, complicating matters.
We had the patient packaged well and he was alive, give us some credit. Yes, you got a helicopter ride to the top, I busted my ass for 2000 vertical feet. I'm sure all that turbulence was rough- I hope the barf bag treated you well.

Your's in this fine world of medicine,
Me