By GEORGE FJELD
ROCHESTER–More than forty firefighters and backcountry rescue volunteers met at the Rochester office of the U.S. Forest Service last Saturday. Fire units from Brandon, Rochester, and Bethel came out, as well as members of Rescue, Inc. and Ridgeline Outdoor Collective, to discuss coordinating the response to a 911 call reporting an injured or lost person in the Brandon Gap and Braintree Mountain areas. Basic procedures and contact information were discussed and distributed before the group ventured outside to practice evacuating a person in snowy mountainous terrain.
Proper insulating and “packaging” of an injured person were both demonstrated and practiced. Basic principles of keeping a layer of insulation and a water barrier between the individual and the snow were reviewed. This is important because hypothermia (getting so cold the body temperature drops) is quick to set in when you stop moving on a cold day. Hypothermia can occur anytime the temperature is below 50 degrees F and can be lethal.
Firefighters and rescue personnel got to practice taking an individual in a litter both up and down a steep hillside. Remember that the terrain in Vermont’s woods is full of rock and trees–both fallen and standing–as well as rivulets of water and ice. This makes transporting a litter of 200+ pounds a difficult job. Proper training and practice makes this easier but never easy! It was great to see so many committed individuals taking time out of their weekend to help ensure the safety of those who like to recreate outside.
