Chris Davies – Kawartha Zone
By A.P. Crawford, Periodical Editor and Production Manager (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
Last February Chris Davies, a member of the Kawartha Nordic Patrol arrived on site at the resort for a mid-week ski. As he was checking in at the patrol trailer he was confronted with an emergency phone call from resort staff. Chris took the call and was told a male individual was self-reporting the symptoms of a heart attack, and that he was in need of immediate assistance on the trail system. He was approximately four km from the main lodge and skiing alone.
Chris immediately readied a snowmobile and key pieces of equipment to respond to the scene. He found a 61-year old male in distress and confirmed the evidence of a heart attack. EMS was notified, ASA administered, and the patient immediately transported by snowmobile back to the main lodge area.
As they approached the lodge, the patient’s condition deteriorated and became significantly worse. They did make it into the patrol room. The patient experienced all the signs and symptoms of a full-blown cardiac event: extreme pain with profuse heat and sweating and the patient began to remove layers of clothing. Chris monitored his vital signs. Oxygen and an AED were present.
EMS arrived approximately 10 minutes later and immediately transported the patient to Peterborough Regional Hospital, approximately 35 minutes from the club facility. He was stabilized at the hospital and then received significant cardiac intervention surgery within two hours of Chris’ initial contact with him on the trail.
Had Chris not been on site that day, addressed the incident appropriately and taken the immediate actions that he did, the outcome would have been far different.
(photos by Charlie Turner)
At the time Chris was presented with his award, he stated that in his opinion, any one of us would have reacted the same way, given our training and that it just happened to be him that day.
For his actions in saving the life of a fellow Nordic skier, Chris was presented with the John D. Harper Lifesaving Award at the Kawartha Zone Awards Luncheon in September.