Larry Ballen PD greets Dan Rodgers and the candidates (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
On Saturday February 21, 2015, NH’s Senior Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) Candidates attended the last “On-Snow Scenario-Based Clinics” of the season. The event was hosted by Proctor Ski Area in Andover, NH as an opportunity for the candidates to familiarize themselves with the mountain. On March 8th, 2015 Proctor Ski Area is the host mountain for this season’s final Senior OEC Exam.
Proctor’s Lodge (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Proctor Ski Area from the lodge (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Looking down on Andover, NH from the top (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
The candidate crew preparing for another scenario (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Practicing on the main slope (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Candidates practicing (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Spine board application (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
TE Ed Sargent evaluating an unconscious patient scenario (Photo by Brian Rousseau)
Proctor Ski Area is a small private mountain operated by the Proctor Academy, a private 166 year old boarding high school nestled into the center of Andover, NH. As a member mountain of NSP, Proctor maintains a student based ski patrol which participates in the region’s Young Adult Program.
Larry Ballen, the ski area’s Patrol Director and General Manager greeted us at the lodge. Showed us around the mountain, helped us with our toboggans and gear and turned us loose to practice scenario problems for the day. We had bright sunny, yet cold weather, with calm winds. The sun shine helped maintain spirits throughout the day. Occasionally we retreated into the lodge to warm-up and discuss Senior test problems encountered during practice. Since this was the last official Senior Clinic on the calendar, many candidates were eager to score their last scenario signatures, before turning their written exam paperwork into Dan Rodgers, the Region’s Senior OEC Advisor.
New Hampshire Region offered its Senior Candidates a wide variety of educational training courses during the 2015 winter season. Six full day, “on-snow” Clinics were held at the mountains that reported Senior Candidates: Ragged Mountain, Crotchet and Pat’s Peak. Three additional night skiing clinic were held this season at McIntyre, Pat’s Peak and Crotchet. In addition to the traditional on-snow scenario practice clinics, NH Region held a two-hour classroom based “Senior OEC Pre-Course,” that presented candidates with optimum methods of self preparation for the training process that the winter season entailed.
Along the way, NH Region Senior OEC Staff held evening indoor coaching sessions where candidates could work on techniques under the watchful eye of Staff Trainers who could provide immediate coaching inputs to help student develop better Senior techniques for Assessment, Problem Solving, Decision Making and Management. These four items make-up the primary grading criteria for becoming a Senior Patroller, because the Senior OEC exam is about emergency medical management rather then just OEC skills.
Thank you Proctor Academy for hosting two Senior OEC events, and good luck to all the Senior Candidates that trained so hard. The Region Staff enjoyed working with you all! Thank you Brian Rousseau for shooting the photos for this article.
