By AP Crawford (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
Individuals involved in this incident were: Patrick Fok, Margaret Logan Graham, Marc Buske, Alex Holmes, Laura Faulkner, Alex Rhinelander, Judy Robertson, Andrew Wort, Caleb Hominick, Josh Lynds, Jamie Cooke, Katie Kells, and Deanna Lumax.
On March 2, 2024, a guest at Ski Wentworth in Nova Scotia skied off a trail into the woods. The trail was narrow and finished with an S-turn, transitioning into a steep pitch. As an experienced skier, the guest was skiing quickly and swerved in an attempt to avoid another skier, leaving the trail at the top of the steep pitch. He tumbled through small trees and down a steep section off the trail.
The first patroller on scene found the guest approximately 20 feet below the spot he’d exited the trail and about 15 feet from the trail edge, on his side perpendicular to the fall line between a padded snowmaking hydrant and two larch hemlock trees (each 24 inches to 28 inches in diameter). One arm was twisted un-naturally behind him and he was in obvious distress. Accessing the patient entailed descending a steep 10-foot slope, and approaching the patient from either side was difficult due to the obstacles.
Patient assessment revealed a male with an angulated fracture of one arm which was pinned behind and under him with no perceived distal pulse, high potential of spinal injury, extreme pain in both shoulders and upper chest, with worsening vital signs and respiratory distress. The incident was immediately graded as a “load-and-go” and it was clear that a stable controlled extrication was a highly time-sensitive priority.
Traditional transfer to a scoop board was precluded by the obstacles, so multiple patrollers performed a “bucket brigade” where the scoop board was placed with the bottom of the board at the patient’s head. While maintaining spinal mobilization restriction, the patroller at the head crawled backwards up onto the scoop board as the patrollers on the sides supported and passed the patient from patroller to patroller, headfirst onto the board. The scoop board was then transferred to the toboggan which was then manoeuvred down the challenging terrain to a lower trail (bringing the toboggan to the site had involved removal of several small trees along the same route was used to exit the scene). At times a drag line was used as a belay to maintain control and stability.
The team worked seamlessly with efficient communication to assess, treat, stabilize, and transport the patient and devised a plan that would accomplish the necessary goals in very challenging conditions. They rotated in and out as needed to move the patient, clear trees, break a path to walk the toboggan to the site from below, manage skier traffic, maintain communications with the resort resources and EMS, and then transport the patient down to EMS and then to the LifeFlight helicopter team for transfer to the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The patient and his partner described the injuries and treatment as follows: 10 hours in surgery, seven days in the intensive care unit, and five weeks in hospital followed by transfer to N.S. Rehab Facility where he continued to receive treatment to aid his recovery. His injuries included a collapsed lung, flail chest (nine ribs), fractured spine (burst fracture to T9, T10, T11, L1), fractured scapula, broken elbow and lacerated spleen. In early May, the patient was progressing through his treatment toward recovery, was able to slowly walk 20 to 25 minutes and was moving forward day by day. He said that it had been and continued to be a long road to recovery, and that he hoped to ski again.
Without the actions of the CSP team, there is no doubt the outcome would have been dramatically different. In 2024 the CSP was proud to recognize the team of Patrick Fok, Margaret Logan Graham, Marc Buske, Alex Holmes, Laura Faulkner, Alex Rhinelander, Judy Robertson, Andrew Wort, Caleb Hominick, Josh Lynds, Jamie Cooke, Katie Kells, and Deanna Lumax with the John D. Harper Lifesaving Award in recognition of their outstanding efforts.
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