Fall 2015 Outdoor Emergency Care Course

This site covers the National Ski Patrol's Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) training course that's held in the San Francisco South Bay area each Fall. Details on registration, materials, preparation and location are located on the tabs above. Course updates are posted below as they are published.

Outdoor Emergency Care® is the National Ski Patrol’s award-winning training program for patrollers and others in the recreation community who deal with emergency situations. This nationally recognized program is designed to help you manage the toughest emergencies, in all seasons. Developed in the late 1980s for the 26,000 members of the National Ski Patrol, Outdoor Emergency Care is a training program that is tailored to the nonurban rescuer. Today, OEC is considered the standard of training for emergency care in the outdoor environment and is recognized by resorts and recreational facilities in all 50 states.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Final Exam Pictures






A small set of pictures from the final practical exam here.












Saturday, November 16, 2013

CONGRATULATIONS NEW PATROLLERS!

When we started our class this last summer, we said one thing - train hard so game day is easy.  And you all did just that - committing countless hours at class, studying, and practicing.

And I'm thrilled to say that every single one of you passed the tests this week - a 100% pass rate for our class!! 

Speaking for the entire instructor crew, a huge congratulations to each and every one of you.  You did a great job.

Also a huge thanks to the all the patrollers who helped out with this year's class - those that helped at class, as well as those behind the scenes.  You are the people that made this class what it was and we could not have done it without you.

So all of you - patrollers new & old - take a moment to pat yourself on the back for a job well done.    ...and then check CMS.

See you all at the celebration BBQ tomorrow afternoon.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Class Celebration BBQ

Peter Mu has organized an awesome event to help us all celebrate our work and success over the past months.  His note below.  Hope you can all make it.

Hello fellow Patrollers and Patrollers-to-be,

Congrats again to EVERYONE in the class for successfully passing the written final exam yesterday.  What an exciting evening.  I am so proud to be part of this community.

To all the patrollers, this community would not exist if not for the contributions of all the patrollers like you who volunteer their spare time to educate the students and carry on the tradition for NSP.  After backboard sunday and seeing many of you getting backboarded over and over, dragged over rocks, bandaged on your face, carried and sometimes dropped, out of bushes…many of us students are very moved and inspired by your dedication.

Please join us this Sunday for a lunch BBQ in the park to celebrate all the amazing things that have emerged from this class.  May the conclusion of this course mark the beginning of adventures, friendships, and many great things to come!

Location:
Sunnyvale Baylands Park
999 E Caribbean Dr, Sunnyvale, CA 94089

37° 24.742', -121° 59.991'

Time: 12-2pm.

Bring: yourself.  Sorry, no pets allowed.  Children and other family most welcome.

Please RSVP so i can plan ahead.

See ya all there!

PETER MU
408-520-1518
Peter.Mu@gmail.com

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Congratulations & Next (Final) Step

Congratulations to all the candidates for passing the written test.  A tough test and you all did very well.

Now to look forward to the next, final, step - the practical exam this Saturday.  In preparation:

- As we have discussed, at tomorrow night's class we will review the exam protocol in detail.  Answer questions, etc. and ensure everyone is ready for what they will see when they get to the exam Saturday.

- I'd then like to do some backboard work as well as review the O2 & airway adjunct skill stations.  We can then do several quick scenarios, answer questions, or work on any topic of your interest.  Please bring helmets & ski boots, plus side-zip ski pants or the like.

- I'm still waiting to hear back on our exact arrival time at the final exam site.  For now, count of things starting at 8.  As we discussed, best practice is to plan to arrive 45 mins-1 hour ahead in case you get lost, and to give some warm-up time.  Also, I'd like to huddle with everyone 15 mins before the event start for some final words.

That's all for now.  More tomorrow night at (our final) class...

Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Final Week of Class...

As we discussed, here's the plan for this coming week:

- Tuesday is the Written Final Exam.  At 7PM I'll pass out the written final.  100 questions, multiple choice.  Candidates can take as much time as they'd like to complete the exam (but not past 10PM).  As each candidate finishes, they'll hand the exam in to me, and then move to another part of the building for practice, questions, etc. in prep for the practical final.  Patrollers will show up around 8:30 to assist.

- Thursday we will do two things:  We'll first review the final practical exam protocol in detail.  Discuss and answer any questions.  When complete, we'll then have an open practice session where we can focus on anything that any individual candidate or group of candidates would like to practice or discuss.  Patrollers will show up at the usual time (7PM) to hear the protocol and thereby be able to give on-point advice for the practical final.

As for the practice sessions, I want to continue to keep the pressure up on bandaging & splinting mechanics, but also do several backboards to ensure we're crisp on execution.  You all have put a tremendous amount of work into this.  Now's the time to put the final polish on it and be ready to demonstrate your skills. As said in athletics, now's the time to peak for the game.  Focus.  Final crunch.

Written Study Material

As most of your know, Dennis Yang has put the final exam test bank questions into the Quizlet application.  It makes a great study tool.  His note below:

Hey everyone..

I finished putting all of the OEC Final Questions into a flashcard program:

You can either study these online, or they have an app for iPhone (I'm not sure about Android) -- once you install it, if you search for "OEC Final 2013" you should be able to get to it.

Also -- when studying, if you click on the "Shuffle" button, it'll mix them up.

Happy Studying!


Saturday Practice Update

Excellent practice yesterday.  We covered a broad variety of splints, backboards, and scenarios.  We spent 5 hours.  Credit to the students who attended and thanks to the patrollers who helped.

I encourage everyone to keep up the practice.  1 week to go until the final!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Saturday Practice

As we discussed in class, we'll hold Saturday's practice at 1PM.  Same location = NetApp Java7.

Once again, I encourage all of you to attend/take advantage of one of these extra-class sessions.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Mass Casualty Night - Looking for Volunteers

This Thursday is a special night.  Mass Casualty night is an opportunity for students to "bring it all together" to apply all they've learned in assessment and treatment to a broad variety of situations in what can be challenging conditions.  It's a highlight for the class.

We're looking for 30+ volunteers to help.  These volunteers would be the "patients" for the simulation.  Here's how it works - while the students are hearing a lecture in backcountry ski patrol skills, we take the volunteer patients aside, brief them on their injury(ies), and place them around the room which has been configured as if a significant disaster has taken place.  When ready, we start with the students triaging the patients and then treating each as is necessary, taking them to safety, and working until the room is clear.

For the patients, it's quite a fun event - they get to have some fun acting, see what you've been up to for the last 12 weeks, and perhaps learn a little bit as well.

The more patients, the better.  So, contact your friends, colleagues, etc. and recruit them to help out.  We'll need them from 7PM to appx. 10PM.  While we'll do this indoors, they should wear old clothes.

Location is the same as our class: NetApp, Sunnyvale.  Directions here.

Sign up sheet located here.