(People's Daily health client reporter Chen Linhui) located in Beijing Yanqing Haituo Mountain, is China's national alpine ski center, but also the Beijing Winter Olympics Yanqing division location, its main track has a total length of 2950 meters, from the top of the sea pass down, vertical drop of 894 meters, complex terrain, changeable wind direction, light flickering and dimming, skiing difficulty ranks among the best in the world.
Alpine skiing is one of the fastest and most difficult Olympic events in the Winter Olympic Games, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital as the designated hospital for the alpine skiing competition of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Sun Xu, deputy director of the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics, and his colleagues, not only became a member of the Winter Olympic Alpine Skiing Medical Team, but also the guardian of the athletes' lives.
<h1>Start at 0</h1>
The "China Winter Olympic Ski Medical Security Dream Team" is composed of more than 70 clinical medical staff from more than a dozen hospitals, including Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, and the Third Hospital of Beijing Medical College.
According to the International Ski Federation Medical Guidelines, athletes fall anywhere on the track and are injured, and medical rescuers must be on site within 4 minutes. Skis and crampon-bearing skis are the only two types of mobile equipment that rescuers can use on the track, which requires the doctor who undertakes the medical rescue task to have enough skiing skills to skillfully slide down to the injured athlete in the ice-like snow slope where the athlete competes.
"We had no lifts, no sleds, no motorcycles, just skis under our feet, emergency medicines (antifreeze) in our arms and 30 pounds of rescue equipment on our backs, and we slid over on our own. This requires that we ski doctors not only need to have a wealth of first aid experience, but also need to have excellent skiing skills. Sun Xu said,
At the beginning, many colleagues around me enviously "ridiculed" that they could ski during working hours, which was also too cool! ”
But no one knows that in order to improve the accuracy of sliding and shorten the rescue time, they can not glide normally in training, and can only mechanically repeat one boring action after another to form muscle memory, and falls and injuries are commonplace. In the snow field of minus 20 or 30 degrees, they need to kneel on the snow to practice cardiopulmonary resuscitation, lie on a steep slope to practice endotracheal intubation, and freeze their hands and feet numb and their whole body cold at the end of each training. Since there is no ready-made training material, training during the day and fighting until late at night to discuss and formulate their own rescue plans.
Sun Xu told reporters that 4 members of the medical team had serious trauma, namely clavicle fractures, rib fractures, thoracic vertebrae fractures and femoral neck fractures. Even so, since the day the team was founded, no one has flinched, no one has been left behind. Foreigners can do it, we Chinese ski doctors will definitely be able to do better!
Members of the Chinese Winter Olympic Ski Medical Security Dream Team participated in the rescue drill of alpine skiing competitions. Courtesy of respondents
<h1>Snow first aid is difficult </h1>
In the downhill race of alpine skiing in the Winter Olympics, the athletes' fastest speed exceeds 140 kilometers per hour, just like the "F1 car" galloping on the ice sea snowfield, and the slightest miss can cause fatal damage.
As a member of the support dream team, Sun Xu just entered the "China Winter Olympic Ski Medical Security Dream Team", he found that due to the complex high-energy injury mechanism of alpine skiing, what they need to do is to complete the injury assessment in the shortest possible time, and carry out simple and effective treatment, maintain the stability of vital signs, and quickly transfer to the athlete medical station, which is the biggest challenge for rescuers.
Alpine skiing venues are extremely special, cold weather, steep slopes, and icy snow on the track can become difficulties and obstacles for first aid on the spot.
"Carrying 30 pounds of medical equipment, arriving at the emergency scene within 4 minutes." Sun Xu told reporters that the physical condition of medical care is particularly important, the average age of medical team members is about 45 years old, and nurses are mainly emergency department and ICU nurses, because after the start of the race, medical staff need to step on skis under their feet and hold emergency medicine (antifreeze) in their arms to ensure that medical rescue personnel arrive at the emergency scene within 4 minutes.
Ski doctors participate in snow first aid drills. Courtesy of respondents
When an athlete falls and is injured, the medical officer coordinates with the competition director to suspend the competition, and first assigns 1 to 2 patrol members to glide to the injured athlete for preliminary examination and evaluation. Once it is found that the athlete's injuries are serious, such as heavy bleeding, severe head injury, impaired consciousness, serious chest and abdomen injury, spinal injury, etc., cannot leave the track on their own, it is necessary to report to the medical officer and seek support. Depending on the injury, the medical officer will quickly dispatch the nearest medical team to the scene of the injury to deal with the injured.
<h1>Drill after drill to reach a tacit understanding</h1>
In the extremely low temperature environment, if the rescuers take off the gloves, the fingers may be numb and lose their perception in half a minute, and the injured may be in a variety of different positions, how to effectively complete the rescue operation in the shortest possible time, such as open airway, life support, etc., requires long-term training and simulation exercises to complete.
Ski doctors participate in an alpine skiing competition rescue drill. Courtesy of respondents
On September 19, 2019, Sun Xu and several teammates participated in China's first helicopter long rope rescue drill held at the National Alpine Ski Center.
During a training session, there was a sudden strong turbulence in the valley. The rescue helicopter went in and out several times, but it could not reach the first aid site. Finally hovering hard overhead, the moment the wounded man was lifted up, the plane fell rapidly due to the increase in weight and the effects of downward airflow. "Everyone's hearts suddenly rose to the throat, and we rushed over desperately to protect the wounded, and the plane overhead struggled to get out of the turbulence." Sun Xu recalled that when he came down from the mountain, he knew that it was the captain who was not in danger and avoided danger.
"On the night after the drill, the medical officer organized a long summary review meeting." Sun Xu said, "As a ski medical first aid, everyone is the first time, in the process of drilling and running-in, there will inevitably be some problems, but when facing problems, everyone knows how to actively solve problems with common goals, which impressed me deeply." ”
The cold of more than thirty degrees below zero, the cold numbness of the snow on long knees, the thrill of how many times to time 4 minutes... After two winters and 62 days and nights of training, in January 2020, the "China Winter Olympic Ski Medical Security Dream Team" sat at the National Alpine Skiing Center in Yanqing Haituo Mountain, and successfully completed the medical security task of alpine skiing projects at the 14th National Winter Games.
In order to accumulate more alpine ski rescue experience and do a good job in the medical protection of the Winter Olympics, more than 20 ski doctors have been training for nearly a month. "Previously, we had a week of systematic training in the 120 training center, and the training content was mainly the operation of various trauma rescue and the strengthening of some theoretical knowledge. However, due to the recent impact of the epidemic, the follow-up injury drill needs to be combined with the patrol team members after entering the National Alpine Ski Center on February 7 to complete the practical exercise, which includes long rope rescue and transfer of helicopters. ”
Recalling the hardships that the "Dream Team" spent together, Sun Xu said that these trainings and experiences have become the vivid stories of a generation of ski doctors, and behind these stories is a milestone in the progress of China's Winter Olympics project.
bibliography:
(1) Bai Peng, Zhou Fang. Risk of injury in alpine skiing competition and on-site medical rescue[J].Chinese Journal of Sports Medicine,2020,39(10):830-832.