Having a field day: Brookvale ski patrol prepares for emergencies

It may be a little early in the season for skiing but that didn't stopthe BrookvaleProvincial Parkski patrol from preparing for potential emergencies at their annual field day Saturday.

Dozens of members of the patrol began the day on the slopes of the park beneath the ski lift to practice rescuing skiers stuck on a chair lift.

• Brookvale exercise prepares ski patrol for disaster
• Up to 50 people left dangling after Crabbe Mountain chairlift breaks

"In the middle of winter, and if there's a wind blowing and you have young children on the chair, it's pretty important to get them off quickly because they're not dressed for the weather to besitting in one spot," said patrol leader Gary Ogle.

In teams, the ski patrol members tookturns throwing a weighted rope over the metal cable that holds the chairs.

They then hoistedup a harness for the strandedskiersand slowly lowered them down.

'We have to be prepared'

The scenario has never actually happened at Brookvale, but it's something Ogle saidthe team needs to be prepared for.

"It's come close. The chair lift has stopped," he said.

Earlier this year in New Brunswick, 50 people had to be rescued from a broken chair lift.

'Afun, exciting, stressful, experience'

But the training didn't end there. Just as the patrol team thought they were heading in for lunch, chaos ensued at one of the park's canteens.

About tendifferent emergency scenarios unfolded simultaneously, includinga woman with simulated burns, someone with a concussion, and a man that had just been run over in the parking lot.

"Itkind ofa little bit of a fun, exciting, stressful, experience for them, but it does prepare them for what could sometimes happen at a ski resort," said organizer and instructorGreg McCormick.

Craig Taggart is an instructor for the ski patrol and also helped put together the emergency scenarios.

He said the goal was to make the injuries and situations seem as realistic as possible.

"You get into a mind set of 'this person's hurt,'" he said, which can help trainees take the practice more seriously.

Building a team

McCormack added that forcing the team into stressful situations together can help build their coordination with one another.

"It's something we have to instill in them because they're going to be working together," he said.

"Some of them are complete strangers to each other so this is a great way to ... culminate the training and build a good team atmosphere."

It was achance for ski patrol members like Scott MacDonald to practice first aid training.

"It really made you think and try and help people," he said.

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