While for obvious reasons I tend to take more time off during the winter season, I do like a little down time during summer for other pursuits. This year, I did not go to Cape Cod, Hawaii, or Disney World, instead I went to Harrison, Maine.
Harrison, Maine, you ask. What in the world is in Harrison, Maine? Well, there is a beautiful lake there where my wife, Susan, and I camped and swam, went boating, picnicked, and sat around giant bonfires telling tales of what else……skiing and ski patrolling. And, while all of this sounds great, there is one more fact about Harrison, Maine, that drew us to this small Maine town some 30 miles northwest of Portland……..that is, it is the home of the Certified Bootcamp.
Now, the word ‘bootcamp’ probably conjures up some images in your mind of early morning calisthenics, including perhaps a 10-mile run and hundreds of push-ups. However, this is really not a proper descriptor of this event. While an early morning ski down the glassy lake is a possibility, or a swim to get the blood going, that is the extent of it, and all voluntary. Instead, based on your interest, what this event offers is a low key, stress free, learning opportunity, and for certain patrollers, a comprehensive look into what would be expected of them as a Certified Patroller candidate. I emphasize the phrase, “based on your interest,” because what you will find here is a collection of people with different interests. You will find serious Certified Patroller candidates that are just entering the program, or those that may be at some stage of completing the program; patrollers that are trying to determine if the program is right for them; patrollers that are trying to learn about the program; those that don’t have any intention of pursuing the designation, but like the training provided and camaraderie of the event; and, numerous family and friends that support the program in ways too numerous to count.
It goes without saying that skiing and toboggan handling are not part of this event, although, like long lost cousins, we certainly gave them some thought. Instead, on Saturday, we moved through a number of both active and interview stations. On the active side, we worked on lift evacuation, avalanche, and low angle rescue skills. While I certainly had takeaways in each area, I think foremost is my need to work on knot-tying skills, and I also developed a newfound appreciation for the latest in avalanche beacon technology. The interview stations included management, hill safety, and accident investigation. The depth and extent of the information discussed in each of these areas I found to be very informative – and for anyone that hasn’t read ANSI B77 in a while, let me just say there is a lot of valuable information contained in there. In each of the areas noted, the Certified members leading the station work to mine your intellect for information that you might already possess but haven’t thought about lately, make suggestions of where good information on a topic might be, and generally get you to understand the thinking that goes into the interview process. Additionally, a fair number of cues are also provided as a heads-up to those that may be pursing the Certified Patroller designation. Most importantly, however, is that learning was happening at each of these stations, by all different levels of patrollers.
On Sunday, we began the day with an MCI scenario, where participants worked through a patroller’s funhouse, where there awaited a maze of patients for which the patrollers had to make triage decisions. This was followed by several challenging, but manageable OEC scenarios, including patients injured by explosion, adaptive skier injuries, pediatric trauma, etc. Again, depending on why you were participating, this part of the program provided positive feedback to all participants as well as things to consider when conducting assessments and providing care and treatment to your patients.
I would be remiss if I didn’t also note the opportunity that attendees had to meet, network, and bond with fellow patrollers from far and wide. In addition to each of the New England states, there were also patrollers attending from New York, Pennsylvania, and as far away as North Carolina.
In summary, it would be hard for me not to recommend that everyone consider attending a future Certified Bootcamp. The leaders of this event, all volunteers, work hard to ensure that there is a positive learning environment for all, that you meet your personal objective for being there, that when you leave you understand what the Certified Program is about, and that you did it while also having an enjoyable experience (without layer upon layer of warm clothing or the threat of frostbite or hypothermia). Will I become a Certified Patroller candidate in the near future – well, I’m not sure about that. However, I am looking forward to my next trip to Harrison, Maine to see what else I can learn and to demonstrate fully my knot tying proficiency……….
Paul Kelly
NH Region Director
