Search for avalanche victims
As avalanche search, or avalanche rescue is referred to the efforts of an avalanche to locate buried people as quickly as possible and to liberate.
Basics
Since avalanche victims are often unable to free themselves and the risk of death increases rapidly with the duration of the burial, it is usually essential to find and free the victim quickly. If at least a small part visibly protrudes above the snow surface, finding it is usually not a big problem and the recovery time is reduced considerably. First and foremost, searching for an avalanche victim is important when the victim's body is completely covered by snow.
The methods of searching for avalanche victims are varied and heavily dependent on the external circumstances, the equipment of the casualty and those present, the accessibility of the area and the availability of further aids. Often several methods and devices are combined with one another, and different methods and strategies are often used in different phases of the search process.
The optimal case is a quick rescue of comrades , i.e. tracking down and digging up the buried victim by other people present at the scene of the accident, since the time until professional help ( mountain rescue service ) arrives drastically reduces the chance of survival. However, an efficient companion rescue requires special equipment both on the part of the buried subject and on the part of the seeker, as well as their correct handling. First and foremost, the avalanche transceiver ( LVS ) should be mentioned here, which sends out electronic impulses that can be received by the seeker with such a device. Carrying such a device is now standard practice on ski tours . The avalanche transceiver is supplemented by an avalanche probe , a long pole to track down the victim, and an avalanche shovel , which enables the victim to be excavated quickly. In addition, carrying an avalanche ball , a ball that is tied to the buried subject with a string and is supposed to stay on the surface of the avalanche, can shorten the search time. This ball is a further development of the avalanche cord , one of the first aids to facilitate the rescue of comrades. The usually recommended procedure, the search with an avalanche transceiver and probe, is structured in phases. At the beginning there is usually one of the simplest search methods, narrowing down the search area. Here it is helpful to have observed the burial, because by localizing and marking the detection and last viewing point ( disappearance point ) one gets a first clue for the position of the recorded person. This is followed by the search with the avalanche transceiver, today mostly divided into a signal search (systematic pacing of the cone until an avalanche transceiver signal is received or the victim is sighted ), a rough search , a fine search in the vicinity and finally pinpointing , with the avalanche probe also being used last comes. The exact procedure for both the search and the subsequent excavation depends, among other things, on the type of avalanche transceiver and the number of people searching. Multiple burials are particularly challenging for the rescuers, i.e. when several people have to be tracked down.
Professional search
If a victim is not equipped with an avalanche transceiver (or avalanche ball, avalanche cord), professional help is required to find it. Avalanche dogs and the search with avalanche probes, in which large search teams systematically sound out the entire avalanche cone, are used in the context of larger organized missions, but can often only arrive at the scene after a relatively long time. Searching with dogs has the advantage of not being dependent on the victim's equipment. It can therefore also be used, for example, in the event of a catastrophic avalanche in inhabited areas, where the victims do not wear avalanche transceivers or RECCO reflectors. This passive reflector sewn into winter sports clothing reflects radar beams. The RECCO tracking system is only available to professional search teams and is therefore not suitable for rescuing buried victims. In principle, the professional search for avalanche victims is nowadays carried out with the help of a helicopter due to the time pressure, but it is often not possible to arrive at the scene of the accident in time to free the buried person from the snow while still alive.
Other avalanche rescue equipment
In addition to the procedures described here, there are other methods of increasing the chances of survival if caught by an avalanche. However, they do not achieve this through a simplified search, but through other mechanisms of action. The avalanche airbag can prevent a burial or at least positively influence the degree and depth of the burial and prevent injuries. The Avalung is intended to enable breathing within the avalanche and thus increase the time window until a life is saved. However, these devices must be actively triggered in the event of detection and cannot replace the standard equipment to facilitate the search for buried subjects (avalanche transceiver, probe, shovel).
Example of an avalanche rescue
Search for buried victims with an avalanche transceiver and an avalanche probe
Excavation at the determined whereabouts
Careful digging out of those buried
The buried people carry avalanche snorkels (Avalung)
Both safe and unharmed
literature
- Hans-Jürg Etter, Jürg Schweizer, Thomas Stucki: Avalanche emergency systems in comparison. Not without my LVS . In: SLF Davos (Ed.): The Alps . No. 2 , 2009, p. 24–29 ( slf.ch [PDF; accessed December 5, 2010]).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Hermann Brugger, Peter Paal, Werner Beikircher: 18 minutes . In: German Alpine Association , Austrian Alpine Association , Alpine Association South Tyrol , Swiss Alpine Club (publisher): bergundstieg . No. 1 . Innsbruck 2008, p. 38–44 ( bergundstieg.at [PDF; accessed December 5, 2010]).
- ↑ a b Walter Würtl: Emergency avalanche. Efficient help in emergencies . In: German Alpine Association, Austrian Alpine Association, Alpine Association South Tyrol, Swiss Alpine Club (publisher): bergundstieg . No. 5 . Innsbruck 2009, p. 18–22 ( ( page no longer available , search in web archives: alpenverein.at ) [accessed on December 5, 2010]).
- ↑ International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ed.): Recommendation REC L 0009 of the Commission for Avalanche Rescue from September 24, 2009 on the terms that describe the search phases in an avalanche rescue . 2009 ( ikar-cisa.org ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; accessed on December 5, 2010]). Recommendation REC L 0009 of the Commission for Avalanche Rescue of September 24, 2009 on the terms that describe the search phases in an avalanche rescue ( memento of the original of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ed.): Recommendation REC L 0007 of the Commission for Avalanche Rescue from October 10, 2008 on the determination of the search strip width for avalanche transceivers by the device manufacturer . ( ikar-cisa.org [PDF; accessed December 5, 2010]).
- ↑ Chris Semmel, Dieter Stopper: Stress to the power of four . In: German Alpine Association, Austrian Alpine Association, Alpine Association South Tyrol, Swiss Alpine Club (publisher): bergundstieg . No. 1 . Innsbruck 2003, p. 22–26 ( bergundstieg.at [PDF; accessed December 5, 2010]).
- ↑ Kathrin Blunschi: Safety, medicine, rescue services . In: The Alps . No. 1 , 2002, p. 46 ( wsl.ch [PDF; accessed on December 5, 2010]). wsl.ch ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Peter Plattner: Rescue equipment for ski tourers . In: German Alpine Association, Austrian Alpine Association, Alpine Association South Tyrol, Swiss Alpine Club (publisher): bergundstieg . No. 4 . Innsbruck 1999, p. 24–28 ( bergundstieg.at [PDF; accessed December 5, 2010]).
