Avalanche First Response Training
Program
Free online course takes
advantage of the web's unique interactive technologies to teach
winter backcountry users avalanche safety and first response
emergency procedures
November, 2005-- Funded by Canada's National Search and Rescue
Secretariat, and the RCMP, produced in a collaborative effort
by many individuals and organizations involved with avalanche
safety in Canada, including the Canadian Avalanche Association,
the Avalanche
First Response Training Program consists of seven modules,
each with specific learning objectives.
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The title of the course is somewhat
misleading in that while avalanche first response skills (the
steps you and your companions should take during and immediately
after an avalanche) are a focus, the course also introduces students
to other important aspects of avalanche safety, such as route-finding,
snow stability, and trip preparation. |
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Podcast |
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While not designed to replace a traditional,
face-to-face, Level 1 avalanche
safety course, this free online tutorial covers a lot of ground,
it should be a part of every backcountry skier's multi-pronged
approach to avalanche awareness studies. With this new program,
online avalanche training takes an important place alongside
video, books, classroom and field work.
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Before the course begins the goals are outlined
and its focus detailed on the home page . A 10 question quiz
designed to give the student an idea of out how much they already
know about avalanche safety prefaces the course. |
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Read the questions carefully, I didn't
and only answered 8/10 correctly, despite decades spent learning
this stuff! Perhaps that's a good thing though, they say it's
usually the little missed details that trip up backcountry experienced
avalanche victims, so the quiz was a good reminder of how this
can happen. Once finished with the home page material, it's time
to start the course. The program's website makes extensive use
of Macromedia Flash, so you'll want to have the latest player
and probably a high speed connection as well. Also, there are
dozens of pop-ups you'll want to see, so go ahead and either
disable your pop-up blocker or add the course website to your
"pop-ups allowed" list.
Module One
addresses the recognition of avalanche hazards associated with
backcountry travel. Avalanche causes, their size and impact,
triggers, and how risk factors can change over time, or even
during the course of a single day, are discussed. Another section
in Mod One discusses the importance of the time factor in the
rescue of an avalanche victim: To have a 95% chance of saving
someone who has been buried by an avalanche, you must find and
dig out that person within 15 minutes. The first of many flash
animations drives home the point that by the time 35 minutes
have passed --the absolute minimum amount of time necessary to
secure outside help, even in the best situations-- the survival
rate has dropped perilously close to nearly 10%. The point is
made, you need to be able to find and dig out your lost
partner right now, there is no time to get help. If you
don't have the expertise and the tools to do the job, your buddy,
friend or loved one is almost certainly toast.
Module Two
deals with Pre-trip Preparation. Outlining your goals and plan,
gathering avalanche, weather, and route information, being prepared
with appropriate equipment and clothing, and knowing the importance
of letting someone back home in on the details of your plans,
and what time they should expect your return. The module ends
with an excellent "Reality Check," urging students
to ask themselves a number of important questions before heading
out, such as "can I use my equipment competently,?"
and "Do my companions really know what to do if an avalanche
hits? Am I comfortable putting my life in their hands?"
Module Three, Reducing Risk in the Field, is my favorite. In
mod three we find various sections delving more deeply into issues
of avalanche terrain recognition, including terrain hazards,
the correlation between slope angle and the type and size of
avalanches, identifying slide paths, and guidelines to help the
student select safer routes.
The section on safety measures covers topics
such as maintaining a wide margin of safety ("Many people
who enjoy the mountains are goal-oriented. Some become so focused
on a perfect line or big air that they continue on their trip
even after learning of potentially dangerous conditions...If
you find yourself thinking, 'It won't happen to me' or 'It's
probably okay to cross this slope,' your safety margin is too
narrow. The mountain snowpack continues to surprise even the
most experienced skiers..."). Also covered are considerations
for safe travel, including human factors, terrain, snow and weather
conditions, observations, and of course that very important "gut
feeling" that those who survive year after year in the winter
backcountry learn never to ignore.
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A wonderful route finding exercise (at
right) involves studying a photo, locating the start point "A"
and end point "B," then using your computer's mouse
to draw in the route you would choose. Go the wrong wrong way
and a red zone will appear with text indicating why this is an
area to be avoided.
This part of the course is simply fantastic
for its educational value and for the way it makes use of modern
interactive technology. The only real criticism I have of the
entire Avalanche First Response Training Program involves this
section: there are only two of these exercises provided--
there should be dozens, for if there is one thing I have learned
over the years it is that skiers and boarders are going to head
out even when conditions indicate they probably should not, that's
just the way it is and always will be, the critical survival
factor in these situations (outside of dumb luck) is safe route
finding. |
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Module Four
covers the vital information needed for the previously mentioned
mandatory self-rescue. For the purposes of this section the words
"self-rescue" and "survival" mean the same
thing, they refer to the actions of the person both before and
after being caught in an avalanche. Many of these preparations
were covered in previous modules but are tied together here.
Fifteen distinct steps one should follow if caught are explained
in detail. These self-rescue steps are deemed to be so important
by the authors that Mod Four ends with a detailed review exercise,
intended to make sure the steps are remembered and followed in
order. Module Four is very detailed, allow plenty of time to
click on all the links to make sure you have learned and reviewed
all of the important information.
Module Five
deals with companion rescue and coming to the aide of other avalanche
victims. How to prepare yourself for such an eventuality, guidelines
for rescuing victims, the actual steps to follow in a basic avalanche
rescue scenario, and how to deal with deep burials and/or multiple
burials are some of the subjects covered. This Companion Rescue
module ends with another discussion of the efficacy of summoning
outside help. It is said that among the points to be considered
before making a decision to go for help are:
- How much time may elapse before the organized
rescue team arrives
- The victim's chances for survival over
that period. (See graph.)
The admonition to consider the Burial Minutes
versus Chances of Survival graph is sobering and will probably
be effective in encouraging many serious backcountry skiers and
riders who take the course to review the extensive information
in Module Four until the procedures become second nature to them.
Module Six covers
post-recovery actions in the field and upon your return from
the backcountry, while Module Seven covers the
"Next Steps" students need to take --beyond the online
course-- to get the training needed to be avalanche safety educated.
Module Seven also has a detailed review section, as well as two
case studies designed to help the student apply what they have
learned in the previous 6 modules by recognizing certain missteps
and errors made by the parties involved, and encouraging the
student to figure out what could have been done to avoid them.
This is an exercise often undertaken on our own Telemark Talk
Forums after publicized or personally experienced avalanche accidents,
feathers can be ruffled by the comments and the participants
are generally accused at some point of "second-guessing"
the choices made by the victims and their companions. But as
the inclusion of these case studies in this online course would
suggest, learning to be avalanche aware is an ongoing process,
and the vetting of actual scenarios is an important part of the
continuing education and "knowledge check" that even
the most experienced and active winter backcountry traveller
is wise to engage in from time to time.
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Conclusion:
This Avalanche
First Response Training Program developed by the CAA and
its partners, and hosted by the Justice Institute of B.C., is
a terrific online resource for all levels of backcountry skiers
and snowboarders. Novices will learn many of the basics and veterans
will be reminded of key points... all will enjoy this excellently
crafted website, the 16 web videos that accompany it, and the
clear and concise way the information is presented.
We applaud the CAA, the B.C. Provincial
government and major sponsor Recco
for the effort they put into this program. With great enthusiasm
we whole-heartedly recommend that our readers and members of
our online community take full advantage of this avalanche safety
resource. We hope all of you who venture into avalanche country
will bookmark the site and return often for a refresher after
completing the course. |
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http://access.jibc.bc.ca/avalancheFirstResponse/index.htm |