Our requalification: the story of a promise we renew

By Jean Coté, Québec Division President (jean.cote@skipatrol.ca)

The story begins on those beautiful autumn days, long before snow blankets the peaks. Out west, light hits the ridgelines. Across the Prairies, the wind whistles. Farther east, the fall colours announce the season ahead. Everywhere, patrollers gather for requalification. Let’s be honest: it is not the most exciting part of our patrol year. And yet, this is where we reaffirm who we are, and where we genuinely enjoy reconnecting with our teammates on the hill.

We know the ritual: demonstrate, practice, validate. Here, seniority exempts no one; whether you once handled birch-bark “two-man banana” sleds, hold a “PhD in prehospital care,” maybe, or are starting your third patrol season, we all follow the same path. No cutting corners. That’s our professionalism: the same high standard for everyone, without flinching.

Elise (a fictional name) shows up for the practical requalification day. Entering her twelfth season she knows the drill. She has already completed the online training hours, at the times that fit best with her schedule. It is not perfect (there’s room to improve), but it beats sacrificing yet another gorgeous, sunny fall Saturday. She smiles at the CPR manikin: “Hey you, we meet again every year, you and I.” On the table: protocols, attendance sheets, forms waiting for signatures. It’s less inspiring than the perfect corduroy of a freshly groomed run, but it smells like peace of mind.

The morning flies by. Stabilizations, airways, oxygen, bandaging. The movements return, clean and fluid. A detail corrected here, an angle adjusted there. In the corner, the instructor checks the boxes: modules completed, BLS current, certificates filed. Elise looks up: “That’s a lot of paperwork.” He smiles: “Yes. And that’s what turns our competence into proof.” It is not that thrilling, we know, but it’s exactly what makes us proud to be compliant and calm when accountability is needed. Dedicated and generous with his time, the instructor has already given up a volunteer weekend to recertify and make sure Elise gets the best of his skills.

By day’s end, Elise has closed the loop. The same CPR manikin she greeted in the morning is put away, the forms she laid out are now signed, and the online modules she scheduled “when it fits” are checked off in the folder. The instructor slips the certificates into the sleeve.

“Are we good?”

“We’re ready.”

And we are attestable, because somewhere this season, maybe right in February, the worst happens for one of our patients. The team works perfectly within our protocol, “by the book.” Decisions are solid, treatments are correct and appropriate, but the outcome is sadly irreversible.

That’s when reality steps in: A coroner or a lawyer looks into the file. An investigation begins; the entire requalification process is reopened, as if rewinding the film. Is everything there? Signatures, attendance, requalification to the letter, the proper number of hours? Were we impeccable? From that point on, it’s about compliance, governance, and accountability. We all understand that, depending on the findings, the size of the problem can jump from size “S” to size “XXL” if a single box is missing. And, in Quebec, like elsewhere, patroller training is governed by regulation. Serious non-compliance could jeopardize our ability to qualify patrollers in Quebec or anywhere else in Canada.

It’s simply discipline, just professionalism: demonstrate, practice, validate. It is not the most exciting part of the season, but it is what makes us proud to be compliant, and calm if we ever have to reopen the file.

We don’t throw confetti. We know we have renewed the promise: qualification is not a lifetime pass, it’s a commitment we keep, without flinching, for our teams, our resorts, and especially for the people we support when things are at their worst.

Here’s what we carry out of the room: every signature is a steadier helping hand, every module checks off more piece of peace of mind, every requalification brings us together around the same standard. Treat right. Document right. Act right.

Discipline belongs to everyone: new candidates, instructors, returning patrollers. It is not borrowed; it is practiced, proven, and passed on. Let’s be proud to cultivate it and keep it alive, together.

Tomorrow, the snow awaits. Same team, same reflexes, same proof. Let’s make a season that reflects who we are: professional, proud, reliable.

Competent and able to prove it. To all of us, our individual grooves, our common standards.