David Stepner with a group of patrollers from the south bay will guide an OEC class (#15289) for 10 students in the mid-peninsula/ south bay area from Sep 2 to Nov 15, 2008. The class will meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening (7-10pm) and on three weekend days (8am-4pm.). Location is Santa Rita School (room 30) on Los Altos Ave, in Los Altos.

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. The 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. Passing this class is required to become a patroller at all Eastern Sierra and Mother Lode resorts.

Anyone with a passion to become a patroller is welcome to the Palo Alto OEC class. It is expected that you would have coordinated with your resort where you will be patrolling, that they are aware of your attendance, and that a mentor or helper has been assigned. 

A Professional level CPR certification is required to pass OEC. For this purpose, a Red Cross CPR-FPR/AED class has been set up for Saturday, September 13.  It starts at 9 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. (or earlier).  Cost is $85.00 and the manual and a mask are included. You will have to sign up for this class directly with Palo Alto Red Cross on www.paarc.org/openrosters/Calendar.asp .

The OEC class will meet on the following dates:

  • Sep 2, 4, 9, 11 (Sessions 1-4) 
  • Sat, Sep 13  (CPR/AED)
  • Sep 16, 18, 23, 25, 30  (Sessions 5-9)
  • Oct 02, 07, 09 (Sessions 10-12) 
  • Sat Oct 11 (Midterm Practical) 
  • Oct 14, 16  (Sessions 13-14)
  • Sat Oct 18  (Backboard Day)
  • Oct 21, 23, 28, 30  (Sessions 15-18)
  • Nov 04  (Session 19)
  • Nov 6 (Session 20-Mass Casualty)
  • Nov 11 (Session 21- Review and Practice)
  • Nov 13 (Session 22 - Written Final)
  • Sat Nov 15 (Practical Final)

If you need information that is not on the web site, please email at paloalto.oec@gmail.com. You must complete registration by August 1. You must arrange to have the textbook and workbook, at the latest, by that date.

The course will be largely "hands on." Each classroom session will have three parts. First, will be a brief lecture focusing on required “on hill” knowledge. Second, will be demonstration and training of new skills to be learned. And third (and largest time) will be practice scenarios.

Before signing up for the class, a careful “life” assessment should be made of the time commitment required. Besides the “in class” time, there will be 75-100 hours needed to complete the reading and workbook activities involved with the OEC text. It is also strongly advised that the students practice their “hands on” skills out of the class room setting. While not mandatory, past participants have found that practicing part of at least one day every weekend (especially in the second half of the class) was almost a necessity.

The OEC text, like any medical text, is very difficult reading (and there is a substantial reading assignment to be completed before the very first class session). The brief lectures in this class DO NOT go over the text book content, but rather focus on the information needed to perform on the hill. To pass the course, the students must pass the nationally mandated written final examination (Nov 13th) given on detailed information drawn from the textbook. You must score 80% or higher.

Many past students say that there is just too much material that needs to be absorbed during the class, and as a result, they fell behind on the reading assignments. This is a downward spiral. It is strongly advised that the students obtain the text book and the work book well ahead of the start of class, and finish as much of the reading and workbook sessions as possible before the start of class. In this way, the time commitment can be stretched out. And this will allow the time during class to focus on the “hands on” skills to be acquired.

If possible, students may want to consider completing a First Responder (or higher level) emergency response course before beginning the reading for this course, unless the student has some medical background. Such a course covers the material of OEC, but not to the same detail.

This course will make extensive use of email and of the World Wide Web for communication and instruction especially before the class begins. Accommodation (and an additional reproduction charge) will be made for students without Web or email access. Be sure to talk with the instructor if you won't check email regularly between August 1 and the end of the course.

Registration Procedure

Click Here to register or click the register menu item on the left side of the screen.

Instructors:

The success of this class depends on the help of many experienced patrollers who volunteer to help with the classes. If you are an experienced patroller who would like to help, it would be much appreciated if you would submit your patroller information and pointers to the material will be sent.