Today I was certified as a Basic Patroller for Wintergreen Resort.  This was the certification that I was hoping to achieve when I began this journey In September of 2005.  It has taken 34 days of classroom and outdoor training to acquire the skills and competence to:

• Complete the National Ski Patrol’s Out Door Emergency Care (OEC) course;
• Obtain the AHA's certification for CPR Health Care Providers or CPR-BLS for the  Professional Rescuer;
• Obtain certification as a National Ski Patrol Auxiliary Patroller;
• Complete Wintergreen Resort's training and certification for Auxiliary Patroller;
• Complete Wintergreen Resort's training and certification for Snowmobile Operator;
• Complete Wintergreen Resort's skiing and toboggan handling training;
• Obtain Wintergreen Resort's certification for Basic Patroller

The past few days of training have focused less on our skiing and riding abilities and more on sled handling.  This includes handling an empty sled and loaded sled.  Handling a loaded sled requires proficiency in front of the sled, or "in the handles", as well as on the tail rope.  Handling proficiency means keeping the sled and patient in the sled safe while riding fast and slow, on all types of terrain, stopping on a dime, traversing slopes of various terrain, and choosing proper paths for the sled and patient.
 
Anyway, I am very excited to have achieved my goal.  I will continue to patrol for the remainder of the season, but now I will be able to take on more responsibility then I have previously. 

I am very appreciative of the instructors who spend so much of their personal time and energy to train us and make Wintergreen's Ski Patrol top notch.  I hope to return the gift I received from them by participating or leading the training and instruction of future patrollers.

Toboggan, toboggan, toboggan. 

The past few training days have been spent advancing our skills and experience riding an empty and loaded toboggan.  The prior training days where we have worked on honing our riding skills have come to fruition. 

Riding the toboggan in and of itself isn’t terribly difficult.  But the subtle difference between riding faster than the genral public and stopping is challenging.  The standard to which we are being assessed to pass Basic certification is high.  Very high.  While I feel more than comfortable and confident to ride an un-loaded or loaded sled on any part of the mountain, I am required to demonstrate a level of proficiency above and beyond what I am personally at ease with.

It’s been a huge time commitment going back to the first weekend in September.  I hope that a few more days on the mountain are all that are required to pass Basic.

All of Wintergreen's Auxiliary Patrollers who are working towards Basic Patroller certification have begun training.  The training consists of becoming a very proficient and good skier or snowboarder first.  Then learning how to properly and safely transport a patient, one with potentially life threatening problems, in a sled or toboggan to either the Ski Patrol First Aid room, or to a snowmobile which would then transport the patient.
 
The skiing and snowboard training are split for obvious reasons.  I am in the snowboard training class.  Today was my first day and it was hard.  The drills and exercises we went through forced us to alter out normal riding stance, posture, and balance to a more appropriate stance, posture, and balance.  This wasn't terribly difficult, but hard because you were forced to ride in a style that was completely foreign. 
 
We spent the afternoon riding in the mogul fields.  I have ridden moguls before.  I can make it down, albeit not that gracefully.  Trying to apply the lessons from this morning to the riding in the mogul fiends was hard.  Really hard.  I took several nice diggers and am sore.  And I know I will only be sorer tomorrow morning.
 
Tomorrow we will work on riding with a sled.  I think I will do fine, but then again, I have a tendency to approach things with more confidence and find that things are harder for me than I initially surmise.

Today I and fellow candidates were introduced to “Certified” level scenarios. These are scenarios that involve multiple patients and patients with multiple traumas. The traumas are life-threatening. Meaning, one or more of the injuries are going to lead to death if not treated properly within 10 – 15 minutes on-the-hill.

While my next goal of obtaining Wintergreen resort certification as an Auxiliary Patroller doesn’t require mastery of scenarios this complex and difficult, we are introduced to them to know what’s possible and to know when to recognize a problem that requires experienced help.

I think the biggest challenge we face when going from “Basic” problems to “Senior” or “Certified” problems is the ability to delegate patient management and scene management. Our natural inclination based on our training this fall was to learn to help each other out and be able to take on different roles and responsibility. Now we are trying to unlearn, to a certain degree, to stay focused on a role when you are faced with a patient with serious and life-threatening problems. It’s hard. Your training and intuition is to try and do everything and get involved. Standing back and directing others when you have a person, or persons, that are really, really hurt takes restraint and composure.

In hindsight, I don’t think the problems were impossible to manage, but then again, the “patients” weren’t real. I also gained a new view of first-aid when you have a patient that doesn’t speak English. It’s like trying to treat a pet for trauma. If you can’t communicate with your patient, your ability to care for someone is severely diminished. For example, one of our best tools is to ask a patient to “Point to where it hurts the most”.

Tomorrow is our final for Wintergreen resort certification. We will be run through several scenarios out in the snow, ice, and cold. The scenarios should be familiar to us, but test anxiety and forgetting one thing can cause a failure. Keep your fingers crossed.