Adventures in My OEC Class!

This month in my OEC class we did some pretty awesome stuff! One Sunday, I got to go in one of the lift tower maintenance rooms. This was really interesting. We looked around inside and saw how the chair slows down when you get on and off the chair. The chair slows down because as it goes around the bull wheel it actually detaches itself from the wire and once it gets past a certain point, it reattaches itself onto the wire. While we were in the maintenance room, we saw where the control panel was and where everything was. We also got to go out on the ledge of the tower and look out. This was kind of sketchy because the grate was loose, but it was still really awesome. After we got to tour around the lift tower maintenance room we went inside the connex, where Mountain High Ski Patrol stores most of their medical supplies. It was a mess but there were so many supplies, it was interesting to see. We got all the supplies we needed for the day and then we practiced our skills and prepared for the upcoming test by going over multiple choice questions.

Looking out on the grate towards the top of the lift. This was sketchy but fun!

An inside view of the lift tower maintenance room. It looks like an alien ship from the outside.

The ladder to go up and down the lift tower maintenance room. Don't go near the light!

Another view of inside the lift tower maintenance room.

The gauges that tell you what the lift is running low on and when you need to shut down the lift.

The control panel in the lift tower maintenance room.

The last day of my OEC class was test day. It also just happened to be On the Hill Day for Mountain High Ski Patrol as well. There were a lot of patrollers on the mountain, but I thought it was pretty cool. I've always enjoyed On the Hill Days at Baldy, so it was interesting to see how Mountain High does their On the Hill day. When I first arrived we did our 100 multiple choice test, which was easier than I thought it would be, but yet still hard. They gave us 2 hours to complete this, but all of us finished right around the hour and a half mark. After we finished the test, we looked around at different booths that had skis, boots, and snow clothes. We also watched a video on ACL injuries, this was really gnarly! After we finished looking around one of the patrollers said that we should go watch a lift evacuation, so we all hiked up half a mile to watch how to do a lift evacuation. My instructor,  Trevor demonstrated how to do this skill. I've seen and participated as being a patient in a lift evacuation at Baldy, but Mountain High used a different method than Baldy, so this was interesting and cool too see the two different perspectives. After we finished watching the lift evacuation, we hiked back down and they tested us on two different scenarios. The first scenario we got was "someone who hit a box skiing and got an impaled object in their hand and had a difficult time breathing." We took turns being the patroller helping our patient. We had to figure out what was wrong with out patient and help them breathe and stabilize the impaled object. The next scenario we got was "someone who hit their head and was altered and feeling nauseous and had elbow pain." Again, we took turns being the patroller assessing our patient. We had to take standard c-spine precautions and figure out what was wrong with out patient. After we finished the two scenarios, we were tested on five different skills. I was first tested on splinting a humerus fracture. They tested us orally on how we would take standard precautions and the materials that we would use. The next skill I was tested on was administering oxygen. The person testing me tested me on how to administer oxygen using a nasal canula, a non-rebreather mask, and a bag valve mask and how to use a suctioning device. The next skill I was tested on was boot removal. He tested me on how I would take off the boot using a rolling motion and how I would use an additional patroller to hold manual stabilization of the leg. Then I was tested on helmet removal. He tested me on how I would use additional resources to hold manual head stabilization and how I would use a rolling motion to remove the helmet. The last skill I was tested on was a distal femur fracture( the coolest thing ever in my opinion!). During this skill, the person tested me how i would assess the patient and how I would use a Hare traction splint to splint the leg and to pull traction. He made sure I knew the different key factors like having someone pull manual traction on the affected leg and sizing and applying the Hare traction splint. After we ran through all the skills the testers told us if we passed or not. I passed so I am now officially OEC certified and considered an OEC Technician. I am now just waiting for my certification card in the mail. The waiting begins.

A lift evacuation I saw that was demonstrated by my instructor, Trevor Samorajski.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1.  What is your working EQ?
My working EQ is: What are the top three things you can do to ensure the best care possible for your patient? 

2.  What is a possible answer to your working EQ? Please write the answer in thesis format.  
The first thing you can do to ensure the best possible care for you patient is when you arrive on scene to the call, go through your primary assessment, which includes making sure your patient has an airway, is breathing adequately, has a good circulation, and has no disabilities. After you assess the ABCD's you want to address any life threatening conditions. Once you notice these treat the life threats. Finally, you want to transport your patient to a better environment. All of this is part of the primary assessment.The next thing you can do to ensure the best possible care of your patient is to do a secondary assessment, which includes getting a head to toe examination of your patient by inspection of any abnormalities and deformities, by touching, and listening for respirations and perfusion. Then you would want to gather your SAMPLE History by asking the patient questions of their symptoms and figuring  out their signs, asking if they have any allergies, if they're on any medications, if they have any past pertinent medical history, when they last ate or drank something, and what they were doing leading up to the accident. All of this is part of your secondary assessment. The last thing you can do to ensure the best possible care for your patient is to hand off your patient to a higher level of care like ALS. You want to do this to ensure that they go to a hospital because we can't diagnose anything, we're only here for immediate response and treatment. 

3.  What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ? 
The most important source I have used to come up with an answer to my working essential question is my Outdoor Emergency Care book. This book was written by Deborah A. Endly, David H. Johe, and Edward C. McNamara. 


4.  Who is your mentor, or where are you volunteering, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?
My mentor is David Mix of Mt. Baldy Ski Lifts Inc. He works for patrol and is the manager of the ski patrol at Mt. Baldy. Everything I've been doing has helped me answer my essential question because I've been going on calls and lending a hand for the pro patrollers. While I'm on these calls, I get to see what my fellow patrollers do to respond to a patient in need and that is injured. I just step back and watch and help whenever someone asks me too.