By A.P. Crawford (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
Reed Power-Grimm, Tim Parks, Rod Hull, Andy Maclean (non-CSP), Allison Hunter (non-CSP), Greg Conron (non-CSP), Darryl Rourke (non-CSP)
On March 28, 2023, at about 10:20 a.m., a 78-year-old male skier entered the chairlift corral at Ski Martock in Nova Scotia and collapsed. Greg Conron (deputy chief of the Chester Fire Department) and Allison Hunter (an ER nurse) both quickly recognized the absence of vital signs and began CPR. The lift attendant immediately radioed for patrol assistance and requested an AED as well.
Reed Power-Grimm and Tim Parks arrived from different directions at almost the same time, Tim having picked up the AED on his way past the office. The area manager (an expert snowboarder and fully familiar with toboggans) had also heard the call and offered to pick up the toboggan from a cache so that Reed wasn’t delayed on the way to the scene. All three arrived at about the same time, about five minutes after the initial call. (Additional assistance at the scene was provided by Darryl Rourke.)
The five individuals on scene at this point continued CPR, applied the AED, and one directed bystanders to the T-bar, to clear the area. Once the AED pads were in place Tim Parks took over the chest compressions. The AED assessed that a shock was advised. The first shock was delivered at 10:28 a.m. following which Tim continued with compressions and Reed provided ventilations. A normal chin-lift head tilt did not completely open the patient’s airway (his tongue was slightly swollen) so an OPA was inserted to address that concern.
After two minutes the AED re-assessed the patient and advised that a shock should be delivered, following which a carotid pulse was detected by Allison Hunter and subsequently bi-lateral radial pulses were confirmed. Greg delivered a sternal rub and eye movement was noted; the OPA was removed as it was no longer needed. The patient’s level of consciousness began to slowly return, and he began to respond to verbal stimulus. The patient’s communication continued to improve. He initially complained of pain, subsequently becoming able to localize the pain location to his chest.
Rod Hull (a free-skiing patroller with a radio) arrived on scene and the patient was secured into a scoop stretcher and loaded into the waiting toboggan for transport. Tim and Reed continued to question the patient to monitor his level of consciousness.
By this point the local fire department had arrived along with the ambulance and paramedics. The toboggan was moved from the chairlift corral to the waiting ambulance. Vital signs were monitored by the paramedics upon handover. Tim and Reed discharged the patient to EMS at 10:50 a.m. at which time he was responsive to voice and reasonably alert as to place and time.
Thanks to the teamwork of CSP members Reed Power-Grimm, Tim Parks and Rod Hull, along with the assistance of Andy Maclean, Allison Hunter, Greg Conron and Darryl Rourke, the patient’s life was saved. The CSP was proud to award the John D. Harper Lifesaving Award to this team in recognition of their efforts.
This post is also available in: French