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Safety in Alpine Helicopter Rescue Operations—Minimal Requirements of Alpine Skills for Rescue Personnel

Küpper, Thomas ; Hillebrandt, David ; Steffgen, Juergen ; Schöffl, Volker

In: Annals Of Occupational Hygiene, 2013, vol. 57, no. 9, p. 1180-1188

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    Title
    • Safety in Alpine Helicopter Rescue Operations—Minimal Requirements of Alpine Skills for Rescue Personnel
    Author
    • Küpper, Thomas. Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
    • Hillebrandt, David. Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA), 3000 Bern, Switzerland
    • Steffgen, Juergen. Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
    • Schöffl, Volker. Medical Commission of the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA), 3000 Bern, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Annals Of Occupational Hygiene, 2013, vol. 57, no. 9, p. 1180-1188. Oxford University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:289524
    Summary
    Objective: There is a lack of data to establish minimal requirements for technical alpine climbing skills needed by rescue teams involved in alpine helicopter rescue operations to perform such operations safely. Methods: A year of rescue operations (N = 2731) were investigated for the technical difficulties of the terrain. The difficulties were graded according to the Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA) scale for rocky terrain and steepness for ice slopes. Results: For 99.7% of the operations, the terrain could be accurately evaluated. In at least 30.7% of all rescue operations, personal advanced alpine climbing skills were required for the rescue personnel, and in 6.0%, the difficulties of the rocky terrain correspond to UIAA scale grade III with another 2.4% to UIAA grade IV or above. About 1.5% of all operations took place in ice faces steeper than 50°. Conclusions: To be able to manage 90% of all operations safely, all crew members, except the pilot, must be competent at climbing rock terrain of UIAA scale grade IV and ice of 50° steepness using appropriate rescue, rope, and belaying techniques. These recommendations include a technical safety margin for adverse conditions, such as bad weather