When a mountain accident occurs, people often feel there are countless things to do, with thoughts racing and struggling to cope. Some of these tasks are urgent and must be done immediately, while others are better tackled after gaining a better understanding of the situation. The seven steps outlined in this article provide a framework to help people organize and carry out actions in an emergency in the most efficient and orderly manner.
Step 1: Take Control of the Situation. It’s best for every team to designate a rescue leader in advance (different from the climbing leader), or appoint one on the spot. When an accident happens, this leader’s task is to quickly assess the situation, assign different people to different tasks or to care for different injured individuals. This ensures the team can respond most effectively in the shortest time. It helps avoid a chaotic rush to do one thing, or everyone focusing on the seemingly most seriously injured person while neglecting those who actually need urgent first aid.
Step 2: Approach the Injured Person in the Safest Way Possible. The goal of this step is to prevent further casualties. Often at the scene of an accident, especially right after it happens, there are still dangerous factors—such as falling rocks, avalanches, other objects still dropping, or terrain prone to lightning strikes. While approaching the injured person, you must also prevent yourself and others from getting further injured.
Step 3: Provide Emergency Rescue for Life-Threatening Injuries.
1. Check breathing and pulse. Breathing that stops puts life in immediate danger. Temporary cessation of breathing may be caused by lightning strike, being hit by a heavy object, suffocation from a rope, carbon dioxide poisoning due to poor ventilation in a snow cave or tent, or a punctured pleura. Without timely treatment, the injured person’s life is at risk. Sometimes, simply moving the person to a safe location (e.g., in case of carbon dioxide poisoning) or removing the object causing suffocation will restore their breathing. If difficulty breathing is due to a punctured pleura that has disrupted negative pressure in the chest, immediately use your hand to block the wound, then seal it with gauze.
2. If the injured person is not breathing, immediately clear their airway to prepare for artificial respiration. Here’s how: If there’s no sign of spinal injury, place one hand on the forehead and gently tilt it backward. With the other hand, slightly lift the jaw until it is nearly vertical to the ground. If there are signs of spinal injury, skip tilting the forehead back and just lift the jaw upward and forward. For proper artificial respiration, it’s best to refer to specialized books or attend training. Here’s a brief outline: Pinch the person’s nose, take a deep breath, cover their mouth with yours, and slowly blow air (over 2 seconds) into their mouth until you see their chest rise. Repeat once. Then perform chest compressions: press down on the center of the chest between the nipples at a rate of 100 times per minute, compressing about 4–5 cm deep, for 15 times. Repeat the cycle of two breaths and 15 compressions until the person starts breathing again.
3. Immediately apply pressure or bandages to stop severe bleeding. If the injured person is bleeding heavily, you can apply direct hand pressure to the wound or elevate the injured limb to control the bleeding, then find sterile gauze to dress the wound. After treating the wound, the rescuer should promptly clean their own hands to avoid infection and definitely not move on to treat other injured people without doing so.
4. Ensure both the injured person and the rescuer are in a safe location during this process. If necessary, move the injured person before administering aid. If moving someone with a spinal injury, be extremely careful not to twist the spine and keep the head, neck, and cervical vertebrae aligned.
Step 4: Protect the Injured Person and Reduce Physical and Psychological Stress. When injured, the body is under great strain and more sensitive to external temperature changes. At this time, try your best to protect the injured person—keep them warm in cold environments, accommodate their immediate needs as much as possible, and speak to them in a calm tone to reassure them that help is on the way.
Step 5: Check for Other Injuries. Once life-threatening injuries have been addressed and the injured person is stabilized, conduct a full-body check from head to toe. Some injuries, especially internal ones, may not be visible initially or may not show up under extreme stress, but could be detected during a comprehensive examination.
Step 6: Develop an Action Plan: Evacuate or Send for Help and Stay Put. By now, the rescue leader should have a full understanding of all the injured individuals’ conditions. Take some time to work with the team, considering the group’s available resources and manpower, the severity of the injuries, the terrain, weather conditions, and whether outside help is available, to develop the most effective evacuation plan. The guiding principle is to get the injured person treated as quickly and effectively as possible.
Step 7: Execute the Action Plan. No matter which plan is implemented, keep a close watch on the injured person and stay alert to changes in weather and terrain. Be ready to adjust the plan as the situation evolves.
Step 1: Take Control of the Situation. It’s best for every team to designate a rescue leader in advance (different from the climbing leader), or appoint one on the spot. When an accident happens, this leader’s task is to quickly assess the situation, assign different people to different tasks or to care for different injured individuals. This ensures the team can respond most effectively in the shortest time. It helps avoid a chaotic rush to do one thing, or everyone focusing on the seemingly most seriously injured person while neglecting those who actually need urgent first aid.
Step 2: Approach the Injured Person in the Safest Way Possible. The goal of this step is to prevent further casualties. Often at the scene of an accident, especially right after it happens, there are still dangerous factors—such as falling rocks, avalanches, other objects still dropping, or terrain prone to lightning strikes. While approaching the injured person, you must also prevent yourself and others from getting further injured.
Step 3: Provide Emergency Rescue for Life-Threatening Injuries.
1. Check breathing and pulse. Breathing that stops puts life in immediate danger. Temporary cessation of breathing may be caused by lightning strike, being hit by a heavy object, suffocation from a rope, carbon dioxide poisoning due to poor ventilation in a snow cave or tent, or a punctured pleura. Without timely treatment, the injured person’s life is at risk. Sometimes, simply moving the person to a safe location (e.g., in case of carbon dioxide poisoning) or removing the object causing suffocation will restore their breathing. If difficulty breathing is due to a punctured pleura that has disrupted negative pressure in the chest, immediately use your hand to block the wound, then seal it with gauze.
2. If the injured person is not breathing, immediately clear their airway to prepare for artificial respiration. Here’s how: If there’s no sign of spinal injury, place one hand on the forehead and gently tilt it backward. With the other hand, slightly lift the jaw until it is nearly vertical to the ground. If there are signs of spinal injury, skip tilting the forehead back and just lift the jaw upward and forward. For proper artificial respiration, it’s best to refer to specialized books or attend training. Here’s a brief outline: Pinch the person’s nose, take a deep breath, cover their mouth with yours, and slowly blow air (over 2 seconds) into their mouth until you see their chest rise. Repeat once. Then perform chest compressions: press down on the center of the chest between the nipples at a rate of 100 times per minute, compressing about 4–5 cm deep, for 15 times. Repeat the cycle of two breaths and 15 compressions until the person starts breathing again.
3. Immediately apply pressure or bandages to stop severe bleeding. If the injured person is bleeding heavily, you can apply direct hand pressure to the wound or elevate the injured limb to control the bleeding, then find sterile gauze to dress the wound. After treating the wound, the rescuer should promptly clean their own hands to avoid infection and definitely not move on to treat other injured people without doing so.
4. Ensure both the injured person and the rescuer are in a safe location during this process. If necessary, move the injured person before administering aid. If moving someone with a spinal injury, be extremely careful not to twist the spine and keep the head, neck, and cervical vertebrae aligned.
Step 4: Protect the Injured Person and Reduce Physical and Psychological Stress. When injured, the body is under great strain and more sensitive to external temperature changes. At this time, try your best to protect the injured person—keep them warm in cold environments, accommodate their immediate needs as much as possible, and speak to them in a calm tone to reassure them that help is on the way.
Step 5: Check for Other Injuries. Once life-threatening injuries have been addressed and the injured person is stabilized, conduct a full-body check from head to toe. Some injuries, especially internal ones, may not be visible initially or may not show up under extreme stress, but could be detected during a comprehensive examination.
Step 6: Develop an Action Plan: Evacuate or Send for Help and Stay Put. By now, the rescue leader should have a full understanding of all the injured individuals’ conditions. Take some time to work with the team, considering the group’s available resources and manpower, the severity of the injuries, the terrain, weather conditions, and whether outside help is available, to develop the most effective evacuation plan. The guiding principle is to get the injured person treated as quickly and effectively as possible.
Step 7: Execute the Action Plan. No matter which plan is implemented, keep a close watch on the injured person and stay alert to changes in weather and terrain. Be ready to adjust the plan as the situation evolves.
