Introduction
Ski patrols are tasked with substantial challenges: distance from definitive care,
complex extrications, and winter environments. Rules for US ski patrols stipulate
that ≥1 persons be trained in basic first aid, but no further regulations regarding
the specifics of provided medical care exist. This project investigated patroller
training, patient care, and medical direction of US ski patrols through a survey of
ski patrol directors and medical directors.
Methods
Participants were contacted via email, phone, and personal contacts. After consultation
with known ski patrol directors and medical directors for question guidance, 2 separate
institutional review board-approved surveys were designed: 1 for ski patrol directors
and 1 for ski patrol medical directors, containing 28 and 15 qualitative questions,
respectively. The surveys were distributed with a link to the encrypted Qualtrics
survey platform. After 2 reminders and 4 mo, results were downloaded from Qualtrics
into an Excel spreadsheet.
Results
Twenty-two responses from patrol directors and 15 from medical directors were received.
The response rate is unknown. Outdoor emergency care certification was the minimum
medical training required by 77% of the study participants. Twenty-seven percent of
surveyed patrols belonged to an emergency medical service agency. Fifty percent of
11 surveyed ski patrols had a medical director, 6 of whom were board certified in
emergency medicine. All surveyed medical directors stated that they assisted with
patroller education, and 93% assisted with protocol development.
Conclusions
The surveys demonstrated variability in patroller training, protocols, and medical
directorship. The authors questioned whether ski patrols would benefit from increased
standardization of care and training, quality improvement programs, and medical directorship.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 20, 2023
Accepted:
March 23,
2023
Received:
May 10,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
