David Stepner with a group of patrollers from the
south bay will guide an OEC class (#16813) for 15 students in the
mid-peninsula/ south bay area from Aug 25 to Nov 14, 2009. The class will
meet every Tuesday and Thursday evening (7-10pm) and on three weekend days
(8am-4pm.). The final location has not been determined, but it will be in the mid-Peninsula area.
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.
Our course is designed to serve ski patrols in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee area. Our patrollers work within an hour of definitive care by ground transport and are serviced by helicopter transport for patients with urgent problems. Most high backcountry sites in the Basin have cell coverage and helicopter transport as well. We do not spend class time on any issues which are not important in this winter environment. Candidates expecting to work at remote ski areas or in a summer environment must put extra effort into the relevant textbook and workbook information.
The OEC class will meet
on the following dates:
- Sat, Aug 22 (CPR/AED)
- Aug 25, 27; Sep 1, 3 (Sessions 1-4)
- Sep 8,
15, 22, 24, 29 (Sessions 5-9)
- Oct
01, 06, 08 (Sessions 10-12)
- Sat
Oct 10 (Midterm Practical)
- Sun Oct 11 (Backboard Day)
- Oct
13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29 (Sessions 13-18)
- Nov 03
(Session 19 )
- Nov 05
(Session 20-Mass Casualty)
- Nov 10
(Session 21- Review and Practice)
- Nov
12 (Session 22 - Written Final)
- Sat Nov
14 (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.
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.