- Admin
- #1
So Lisa and I head to Renshaw on Monday for a final ride for the big Mountain Mania 6 weekend. We rode all day and were coming back from around the saddle area heading towards black water. We went this way through the wind tunnel and took a bit longer way rather than taking her down the steep hills. So we got in to black water and noticed a few guys waving there arms, first of all I thought it was someone that was saying hi, then realized it may be more than that.
We made our way to them and asked them if they needed any help. The one guy replied yes, and that there friend had a broken leg and needed some attention. I immediately kicked into to first aid mode and offered our services then took charge of the scene. First accessing the situation, then focusing my efforts on the sledder with the broken leg. Asking two of the young men to go call for help, since there cell phone did not work where we were they both left to get in touch with the authorities. I then asked the other two men there to gather up firewood and pile in so a fire can be lit right away. Then another injured sledder was on the scene beside the other. He had a right arm injury, and he was sitting aside in pain. I reviewed Tyson's leg injury, it was right below the knee and I could clearly see his leg was broken bad. All of a sudden another sledder came down the chute and wiped out right there, he was ok. I asked the two to go up there and block the trail with a tree. I asked if anyone had a spot, and one of the guys just got one, he gave it to me and I hit the 911 button and put it on the tree branch. The gash in his leg was just about the size of a fist and approximately 1-1/2" deep, I checked it for the severity of bleeding to make sure the main artery's were not ruptured, and they were not. So I cleaned the wound with water then laid some gauze over top. My girlfriend covered Tyson up with a silver survival blanket and we gave him my toque to keep him warm. After that I dug under the wound in the snow so I can get it wrapped. Using a sweater from one of the guys I ripped it up and wrapped the wound well and using duct tape taped it off fairly snug.
Then with another sweater this was rapped again then taped at both ends. The other sledders in the group were keeping the fire going with spruce trees and we were piling the limbs from the trees up to make a warm bed for Tyson and they gathered a few 1 1/2" sticks that I can use to make a splint to secure Tyson's leg. One of the sledders assisted me as we cut and taped the stick from his thigh down to 1/2 way down his boot, this was duct taped to his leg in 3 areas to provide some rigidity to Tyson's leg. Once the one side was done Tyson was feeling way better. Lisa was making sure he was well hydrated and both the injured sledders were comfortable. The fire was burning well and I had the other guys grab what ever spruce trees we could find to build a windbreak because we need to keep the injured sledders warm and the sun was starting to go down. We selected a stick for the other side as it was contoured to his leg quite well then taped it up well with duct tape. Tyson was now mobilized and we needed to move him to a makeshift bed and elevate his leg higher than his body and make him comfortable while we waited for Search and rescue to arrive. A level bed was made on the snow with spruce bows, Tyson was then carefully moved to this area, his leg was elevated, then he was covered again with a emergency silver heat blanket. He was very comfortable, the other injured sledder was attended to and was getting a bit cold and the second silver heat blanket was used to cover him up along with a toque. The fire was stoked up good as well. Another group stopped in and seen if we needed assistance, we asked them to just help with some good dead fall fire wood, they did, and we let them know it was OK to go, they left us there food if we needed it. By this time we also had cut several spruce trees down and made a 5' wall around the injured sledders and the fire to act as a wind break. Tyson and the other injured sledder were doing real well. Tyson could feel his feet and even wiggle his toes which was good. We all kept gathering wood and trees as we were not sure how long we would be waiting. I know the search and rescue guys in McBride and said we would probably hear a turbo nytro pulling up pulling a skimmer. We carefully listened for a while and heard and seen a chopper. We flagged it down, they landed in the open area. It was a CH Heli Ski chopper, A emergency first aider came with his kit and Rod Welpton from SAR, they looked at the injured and assessed the situation and the first aider from CH Heli skiing said Tyson was mobilized quite well and the other injured sledder would be ok to come along with some aid to the chopper. We all put Tyson on a back board and brought him to the chopper and loaded him up. Once he was loaded the other sledder was loaded into the chopper and off they went. Rod stayed with us to drive the sled down. We put out the fire and pushed down all the trees, then headed down the trail, it was dark and around 5:00 by then. We got to the parking lot and met up with Dale from Robson Valley Search and rescue and said everything was fine and all were now at the hospital.
We made our way to them and asked them if they needed any help. The one guy replied yes, and that there friend had a broken leg and needed some attention. I immediately kicked into to first aid mode and offered our services then took charge of the scene. First accessing the situation, then focusing my efforts on the sledder with the broken leg. Asking two of the young men to go call for help, since there cell phone did not work where we were they both left to get in touch with the authorities. I then asked the other two men there to gather up firewood and pile in so a fire can be lit right away. Then another injured sledder was on the scene beside the other. He had a right arm injury, and he was sitting aside in pain. I reviewed Tyson's leg injury, it was right below the knee and I could clearly see his leg was broken bad. All of a sudden another sledder came down the chute and wiped out right there, he was ok. I asked the two to go up there and block the trail with a tree. I asked if anyone had a spot, and one of the guys just got one, he gave it to me and I hit the 911 button and put it on the tree branch. The gash in his leg was just about the size of a fist and approximately 1-1/2" deep, I checked it for the severity of bleeding to make sure the main artery's were not ruptured, and they were not. So I cleaned the wound with water then laid some gauze over top. My girlfriend covered Tyson up with a silver survival blanket and we gave him my toque to keep him warm. After that I dug under the wound in the snow so I can get it wrapped. Using a sweater from one of the guys I ripped it up and wrapped the wound well and using duct tape taped it off fairly snug.
Then with another sweater this was rapped again then taped at both ends. The other sledders in the group were keeping the fire going with spruce trees and we were piling the limbs from the trees up to make a warm bed for Tyson and they gathered a few 1 1/2" sticks that I can use to make a splint to secure Tyson's leg. One of the sledders assisted me as we cut and taped the stick from his thigh down to 1/2 way down his boot, this was duct taped to his leg in 3 areas to provide some rigidity to Tyson's leg. Once the one side was done Tyson was feeling way better. Lisa was making sure he was well hydrated and both the injured sledders were comfortable. The fire was burning well and I had the other guys grab what ever spruce trees we could find to build a windbreak because we need to keep the injured sledders warm and the sun was starting to go down. We selected a stick for the other side as it was contoured to his leg quite well then taped it up well with duct tape. Tyson was now mobilized and we needed to move him to a makeshift bed and elevate his leg higher than his body and make him comfortable while we waited for Search and rescue to arrive. A level bed was made on the snow with spruce bows, Tyson was then carefully moved to this area, his leg was elevated, then he was covered again with a emergency silver heat blanket. He was very comfortable, the other injured sledder was attended to and was getting a bit cold and the second silver heat blanket was used to cover him up along with a toque. The fire was stoked up good as well. Another group stopped in and seen if we needed assistance, we asked them to just help with some good dead fall fire wood, they did, and we let them know it was OK to go, they left us there food if we needed it. By this time we also had cut several spruce trees down and made a 5' wall around the injured sledders and the fire to act as a wind break. Tyson and the other injured sledder were doing real well. Tyson could feel his feet and even wiggle his toes which was good. We all kept gathering wood and trees as we were not sure how long we would be waiting. I know the search and rescue guys in McBride and said we would probably hear a turbo nytro pulling up pulling a skimmer. We carefully listened for a while and heard and seen a chopper. We flagged it down, they landed in the open area. It was a CH Heli Ski chopper, A emergency first aider came with his kit and Rod Welpton from SAR, they looked at the injured and assessed the situation and the first aider from CH Heli skiing said Tyson was mobilized quite well and the other injured sledder would be ok to come along with some aid to the chopper. We all put Tyson on a back board and brought him to the chopper and loaded him up. Once he was loaded the other sledder was loaded into the chopper and off they went. Rod stayed with us to drive the sled down. We put out the fire and pushed down all the trees, then headed down the trail, it was dark and around 5:00 by then. We got to the parking lot and met up with Dale from Robson Valley Search and rescue and said everything was fine and all were now at the hospital.
