25.01.2024
If you are caught in an avalanche, you are a passenger and your life is in potential danger. Independent rescue and rescue attempts may be successful, but in most cases you will be dependent on the help of others.
There are fates behind every avalanche accident, which is why our goal must be to reduce the number of avalanche accidents. The best way to achieve this is through good preparation and appropriate behavior in the terrain. In other words, by doing your utmost not to trigger an avalanche so that you don’t get caught and buried.
However, every freerider can make mistakes, have bad luck, be in the wrong place at the wrong time or join another group in an avalanche accident. It is then important to be optimally prepared to deal with this emergency situation in the best possible way. Comrades and first aiders on site play a particularly important role in an avalanche accident. This is all the more true the further away you are from the organized ski area and a quick professional rescue.
Unfortunately, the reality is that many freeriders and ski tourers – regardless of age – are not properly trained and do not have an adequate command of avalanche rescue. It is therefore important and commendable to teach young freeriders everything they need to know about avalanche emergencies.
However, it is also a reality that even the best avalanche rescue will not help in the event of a deep burial or fatal injury, for example. We believe that good and realistic training must be provided from the outset and, above all, it must always be pointed out that everyone should do their best, but should not expect to be able to rescue every buried person. This balancing act between the basics that are to be expected when you are out in the terrain and preventing feelings of guilt after an unsuccessful search or a search with a negative outcome is a difficult one and must be assessed on an individual basis.
"A quick and correct emergency call can be more important for trapped people than an uncoordinated search!"
In this context, it is more important to adhere to standards and to communicate and take personal responsibility within the group than to search for buried victims. If someone is nervous or agitated in an emergency, it is more important to carry out supposedly simple measures correctly than to try to carry out a burial search when completely overwhelmed.
The destination, i.e. the departure, is changeable and variable! If you are traveling with a group, you cannot simply “change” the participants/colleagues. You will also have to adapt to the prevailing snow conditions and the current weather. This means that the most important preventative measure to avoid being caught and buried in an avalanche is to choose the best run for the day and the prevailing conditions.
It is important for every stress and emergency situation or to prevent them:
Correctly adjusted/maintained equipment: bindings, boots, skis, avalanche transceiver, airbag, etc.
Correct use of equipment: bindings-shoes-skis, airbag, avalanche transceiver, etc
Good buddies with the same mindset: similar technical ability/level and expectations
Always try to help yourself and don’t blindly rely on others! You can only help others if you don’t need help yourself. If you are caught in an avalanche, don’t give up, but try the following:
Do not ride alone! If you are traveling alone and your burial is not observed or first aiders and rescue workers are not with you immediately, your chances of survival drop dramatically. Not only if you are completely buried, but also if you are unable to free yourself or are injured. If you don’t go to anyone immediately, no one will look for you right away.
Everyone has the necessary equipment with them! Without an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe, locating and digging out a buried person is either impossible or (too) time-consuming. Without a cell phone it is not possible to raise the alarm and without a first aid kit/bivouac sack nobody can be properly cared for/warmed. Included are:
In the following, we describe the basic procedure in the event of an avalanche accident. The internationally agreed MSi content serves as a template for avalanche searches. Some countries, institutions and organizations will train differently in some details, which is fine and not a problem.
The individual points of this emergency management plan are described below:
After an (avalanche) accident, it is important not to lose your nerve. Action mode” is the term used to describe the state that many people fall into under stress: You start doing something without a plan or overview, trying to relieve pressure with movement and action. This usually starts a chain of mistakes that is difficult to break later on.
This is why the “10 for 10” principle is also important here (as in first aid). This means taking a moment to take a deep breath and then systematically assessing, evaluating and “working through” the situation.
Immediately after the avalanche:
Who communicates with whom and how, and whether it is possible for one person to take charge and maintain an overview, depends on the size of the group and the skills of the members.
In the following, we assume that a group of 6 skiers is on the way, that they are well trained and that the first skier has been buried in a typical skier avalanche. There are enough first aiders on site for one of them to take charge.
The more often the group has trained together, the better it works. If unknown freeriders join the group, it becomes more difficult or only works efficiently if they have received similar training.
An important task for the person taking command is to hold back such motivated but unsuspecting freeriders – e.g. so that they do not disturb the entire search with their transmitting avalanche beacons – and to give them tasks that are not too much for them.
Clear instructions and tasks: Command is assumed by a competent person who can assess and constantly reassess the situation. This person must not lose sight of the big picture and must have the appropriate communication and assertiveness skills. Once the situation has been assessed and evaluated, the commander in our case passes on the following instructions and information:
Conversely, the commander is dependent on feedback from the searchers (and others) in order to be able to update the situation on an ongoing basis. So communicate (very) loudly and clearly when:
Different situation – Two freeriders (Vroni and Toni) come to an avalanche: Different settings and scenarios require adapted approaches. The special skills and talents of the group need to be utilized. In this case, Vroni searches again – because she is simply better at it – while Toni makes the emergency call and prepares the probe and shovel. Again, they both regain their composure first (10 for 10) and avoid falling into action mode, get an overview and then act according to their plan, with one of them taking command.
Making an emergency call correctly is the basis of every rescue and should be mastered by every freerider and skier. Even if no further rescue measures can be carried out due to excitement, panic, the situation, etc., alerting the emergency services is an important step.
When the emergency call is made depends on the situation (buried person visible, size of avalanche, terrain, …). Even if only a few people are available – e.g. a person is buried and only one first aider is available – it is advisable to make an emergency call immediately if this is possible without losing too much time (network coverage). In the case of such a “short” emergency call, you do not wait for the call taker to end the call, but simply inform them about the avalanche, the most precise location possible and end the call with the information that you will now start searching for the buried person.
Note: The rule of thumb for a delayed, i.e. later emergency call can be: less than 3 rescuers and “head-free time” * less than 15 minutes.
*Time until you have shoveled out your head and your airways are clear
The emergency call has priority! Ideally, an emergency doctor will be on site for further treatment by the time the buried person has been dug out. The most important thing:
First of all, it is important to know that avalanche searches are not just about avalanche transceiver searches, but are part of a process. It ranges from searching by eye, ear and avalanche transceiver to probing and shoveling out.
An important general note: When searching for buried victims, the rucksack always remains on the rescuer’s broad ridge, i.e. if something is taken out, it is immediately put on again! Probes and other equipment should also always remain with the person – probes standing around can easily cause confusion.
The burial search procedure:
All freeriders have their device set to SEND after the avalanche transceiver check. After an avalanche, the searchers start searching for avalanche victims, while everyone else switches their device off or into standby/rescue mode. All electronic devices are stowed at a sufficient distance and ideally switched off completely to prevent interference signals.
The search is divided into:
The phases of the search for buried victims can be compared to the landing approach of an airplane in terms of search speed and precision. At the beginning, you move quickly (signal search) and become increasingly slower and more precise as the range to the buried person decreases (coarse search) . From an indication of around 5-3 meters, work slowly and precisely, moving as close to the ground as possible until you have reached the smallest possible distance to the buried person. Then probe quickly and cleanly at a 90° angle to the surface. It is important not to always look fixedly at the device display, but also to search the avalanche deposit for visible objects (equipment, body parts, etc.).
Signal search (with eye, ear, avalanche transceiver): Move quickly to the first signal
Coarse search – search from the first signal to the close range. First fast and then increasingly slower movement up to the close range (display approx. 5-3)
Fine search: Slow and precise search down to the smallest display (= burial depth)
The most time is often and unnecessarily spent on the fine search. This is often due to poor training scenarios in which the buried avalanche transceiver has to be located with “pinpoint accuracy” (it would be better to bury the transceiver in a rucksack or similar). In reality, however, there is a buried person under the rescuer and therefore a single cross is completely sufficient. The point search until a definite hit is made with the probe. It is therefore more important to remember the smallest value shown on the avalanche transceiver display, as this is the maximum possible burial depth and is valuable information for probing.
Tips for the fine search:
A clear probe hit can be recognized by the difference in depth. This means that the probe can suddenly be inserted less deeply into the snow because you hit an object, you leave the probe at this point and start shoveling out.
In contrast to an organized probe chain and open probing in the avalanche search, the search for a buried person with a transmitting avalanche transceiver is referred to here (point search). Practicing qualitative probing with probe profiles – to recognize whether a backpack, ski, tree, body, etc. – does not make sense in this setting, but prolongs the probing time.
If there is a clear probe hit, the probe remains in place and shoveling begins. The aim is to reach the buried person’s head as quickly as possible.
Efficient shoveling:
Shoveling out a buried victim is often the most strenuous and time-consuming part of the search. It is therefore important to use a good technique and pace yourself.
Alignment when shoveling out:
If you hit the body, orientate yourself towards the head as soon as possible and align the direction of the grave accordingly. The aim is to uncover the head or airways as quickly as possible. Be more careful near the head/face – it is best to continue digging with your hands. To free the body more quickly or to gain access to the head, backpack straps may have to be cut off or a snowboard etc. may have to be dug out at length – otherwise the person often cannot be pulled onto the ramp for further first aid measures.
The most important message in this context is also here:
"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast!"
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