By A.P. Crawford (ap.crawford@skipatrol.ca)
On January 4, 2025, Dave Kells and Stefan Jukes were doing on-snow training with three first-year patrollers at Ski Martock when they heard a radio call about an incident reported above them on the same trail. Stefan climbed approximately 20 metres up to access the scene, arriving at the site along with Natasha Jukes.
Stefan attended the patient who had skied off the trail and fallen down a steep and icy embankment. The patient was found below the embankment with his head downhill on his left side, bent at the waist and knees facing away from the trail with his neck and back against a very large tree. His friend was at the scene near the patient’s head.
Natasha stayed above the incident while Stefan performed the initial assessment, noting that the patient’s helmet had a large dent apparently caused by the impact. Given the mechanism of injury, he decided to maintain C-spine control and determined the incident was a load-and-go, calling for back up, the trauma kit and a vacuum mattress. He also instructed Natasha to activate EMS, and she remained on the phone to ensure proper communication.
Mike Huggins and Dave Kells were the next to arrive on the scene. While Stefan maintained C-spine control, Dave was able to conduct a more thorough assessment which indicated no tingling or pain in the patient’s spine from upper back to waist, that the patient had previously been moving his legs, and that his chief complaints were related to pain in his chest and shoulder. The patrollers opted to maintain C-spine control as a precaution.
Given the location of the incident (over the embankment and off trail) the patrollers had to clear a path for extracting the patient which Mike (who happened to have a folding saw in his pack), Judy Robertson, Andrew Wort and Kali d’Amour undertook to do.
The first attempt to stabilize the patient by rolling him onto a scoop board proved ineffective given his positioning, and with the movement he advised that he felt like he might have broken his ribs and that his lung might be punctured. The patrollers then decided to place the vacuum mattress over the patient and activate it to minimize movement and increase stabilization. This method worked. The patient then began to complain that he felt fluid in his lungs.
Using a bucket-brigade method to minimize the risk of any instability, the patient was moved onto the trail and then transported by toboggan to the bottom. At the patrol hut the patient was placed on oxygen. Soon after, EMS considered whether to activate air evacuation via EHS Life Flight, however the aircraft was engaged elsewhere in the province, so the patient was transported by land to the closest hospital for initial treatment. He was later flown via EHS Life Flight to the Halifax Infirmary for further treatment.
At hospital, the patient was diagnosed with multiple vertebral fractures, multiple fractured ribs on either side, a broken scapula, a broken clavicle, a collapsed lung, a brain bleed, concussion, and he required abdominal surgery. He had an extended stay in the intensive care unit and was subsequently released from hospital for a lengthy recovery.
This team of patrollers demonstrated excellent problem-solving skills in real time in a high-stress, time sensitive and critical event. There is no doubt that their combined actions saved the life of their patient.
In September the team of Stefan Jukes, Mike Huggins, David Kells, Judy Robertson, Andrew Wort and Kali D’Amour was recognized by the CSP with the John D. Harper Lifesaving Award for their actions.
This post is also available in: French