This Saturday I will be, hopefully, at Squaw Valley Ski Resort for our teams recertification in Snow and Ice Rescue by the MRA. We should be there with all the teams from California. I say hopefully because, earlier this week a ski patroller for Squaw Valley was killed in an avalanche (http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1669456.html?mi_rss=Latest%20News), and with avalanche danger being as high as it is, they may decide to not put us in harm’s way just to recertify.
Either way, it’s been a busy winter as I co-led the January training and taught Avalanche Safety and Rescue, and then in February led the training teaching Winter Technical Systems, basically rope systems and team operations to protect the patient and attendants during evacuation from the back country. This was quite an eye opening weekend for me from a command standpoint, especially when we start looking at team briefings, continuity of care, team communication, control hand-offs, and individual comfort levels in different environments.
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