by Craig Nicholson, The Intrepid Snowmobiler

After recent first aid training, I told my wife we were screwed. The only confidence I gained for handling snowmobiling injuries was the certainty that I’d do more harm than good…

Every first aid procedure at the course started with the words, “Call 911 and then…” Even if I had cell service, how am I supposed to give directions? As if the emergency folks could get there fast enough anyway, if at all.

Then there was the liability question. The instructor stressed that the first thing to do is to tell the injured person: “I know first aid”, and ask their permission to help, preferably with a witness. What scares me is the possibility that the injured party will say “yes”, imagining I have every qualification except a medical degree. In fact, I may know only slightly more than the nearest tree.

If the victim says “no”, I wondered, do I breathe a sigh of relief and watch them turn into a Popsicle? One is never supposed to leave anyone alone, but what if there are only two and no cell service? Moving a person with undetermined injuries isn’t recommended either. Am I more likely to be sued for leaving the victim to get help or for risking greater injury by riding the person out on my sled?

The course also recommended opening and loosening the victim’s clothing for greater comfort. I’m not sure my injured buddy would be more comfortable with his heat escaping and the cold coming in faster! On the other hand, I may have to remove clothing to assess and deal with injuries. So how do I keep an injured rider warm?

I learned not to move victims with possible head, neck or spine injuries, all common in snowmobile collisions. If the person is not breathing, then mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is necessary. Of course, this action assumes no helmets in the way, especially full face ones. So now I have the liability risk of deciding between removing a helmet to give mouth to mouth, and possibly aggravating a neck injury, or not being able to accomplish resuscitation. To say nothing of having to take off my own helmet and lose 35% of my own precious body heat!

If artificial resuscitation doesn’t work, I’m supposed to start CPR. This process requires the opening and loosening of the victim’s clothing for chest access, so CPR becomes a race against hypothermia. And not just for the exposed victim…

I worked up a good sweat doing vigorous training CPR on a dummy. So how do I stay dry and ward off hypothermia on the snow? I figure there’s a 100% chance of my being soaked while trying to save someone through CPR.

Then the kicker – I also learned that CPR only succeeds about 3% of the time! Now I’m picturing myself in the freezing cold, with 100% chance of getting hypothermia, versus a 3% chance of saving someone whose family may sue me anyway. And let’s not forget that once started, I’m supposed to continue CPR until relieved. What are the odds that anyone is going to show up before I expire from exhaustion and cold?

So first aid is still a quandary to me, but I’m sure of one thing. It’s much easier to ride safely and avoid collision than it is to deal with any resulting injuries.