Accident at the Sunny Spruce @ Stowe

[thetrailboss]

Two lift techs were working on the lift and fell after the haul rope came off and fell to the ground. One walked away, the other had a broken leg and was airlifted to FAMC in Burlington. Ouch.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090903/NEWS02/909030312

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=11035292

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

yikes but at least we have a Stowe thread..

 

[thetrailboss]

I guess they are saying that the lift malfunctioned somehow.

 

[bvibert]

Wow, that sounds pretty bizarre. The haul rope doesn't usually just fall off the tower. I wonder if it wasn't tensioned?

I'd like to hear more details on this one.

 

[Trekchick]

I'm guessing that the lifts are under summer maintenance and that they were repairing/testing lifts.

Chair lifts are serious business.

When we were at Abasin last winter, the Palli lift was shut down for the day,ON A SATURDAY!!.... waiting for inspection because a groomer hit a tower in the middle of the night while grooming.

The groomer op was drug tested, and fired, with they were having a huge powder day with the Core Skier lift shut down!

 

[deadheadskier]

bad for the dude, good for the economy. Helps keep people employed at the hospital and OSHA at the same time :lol:

 

[bvibert]

bad for the dude, good for the economy. Helps keep people employed at the hospital and OSHA at the same time :lol:

It's funny, I was thinking the same thing about the rescue workers, ambulance drivers, helicopter pilots, etc.. :lol:

I hope the guy is alright.

 

[billski]

Two lift techs were working on the lift and fell after the haul rope came off and fell to the ground. One walked away, the other had a broken leg and was airlifted to FAMC in Burlington. Ouch.

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

When my buddy broke his femur at blue..he would have been airlifted but it was a foggy day so he went the 20 or so miles in an Ambulance..the dude at Stowe was probably airlifted so the hospital could bill Stowe more money..

 

[bvibert]

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

I was thinking the same thing. Perhaps he had other injuries that they didn't mention in the article?

 

[mlctvt]

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

I'm not sure about Vermont but in Connecticut the decision to Airlift is made by the Ambulance people /EMTs not necessarily Paramedics. Many of these people are volunteers. They access the situation and if it’s considered “life threatening” they may call in the Helicopter.

The average Airlift cost in CT is $8000 per trip. Connecticut’s Life Star service is currently in jeopardy due to costs, I guess many people who use the service don’t have insurance and can’t pay? The CT governor decided that the $1.4 million the state gives Life Star isn't worth it and she wants to cut it from the budget.

 

[bvibert]

The CT governor decided that the $1.4 million the state gives Life Star isn't worth it and she wants to cut it from the budget.

I should start paying more attention to what's going on around here. Losing Life Star would not be very good at all!

 

[marcski]

I didn't read the link...but it could have been a really bad compound fracture....perhaps even piercing the skin.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm going to take stab in the dark and suggest that there was concern with possible damage to the femoral artery? That can kill somebody very quickly if the bleeding isn't stopped.

 

[Chris Sullivan]

sometimes a broken leg is more than it seems. I broke both of mine in 2002. It took 30 hours of surgury to put them back together and they are still a mess.

 

[Trekchick]

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

We had a motocross racer airlifted for a broken leg a few weeks ago.
He had a compound fracture that needed some attention to avoid damage to his artery.
He certainly needed more attention than he'd get from the nearest hospital.
A broken leg is not always just a broken leg.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

sometimes a broken leg is more than it seems. I broke both of mine in 2002. It took 30 hours of surgury to put them back together and they are still a mess.

wow..ski accident?

 

[OldsnowboarderME]

Two lift techs were working on the lift and fell after the haul rope came off and fell to the ground. One walked away, the other had a broken leg and was airlifted to FAMC in Burlington. Ouch.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090903/NEWS02/909030312

http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=11035292

Having your fall protection lanyard attached to the haul rope seems like a bad idea. They should have been clipped off to the tower. A fall produces over 5000 pounds of force on the fall protection lanyard. Here at my job we can only clip on to approved attachment points that are rated for 5000 pounds. Maybe one of the guys falling is what actually pulled down the haul rope.

 

[RootDKJ]

Please explain why he needed to be airlifted for a broken leg. Couldn't be carried down the mountain? The road from SMR to Burlington is smooth and steady, especially in the summer. I see a lot of airlifts that, at least to an outsider appear unnecessary.

Broken femur is life threating. Enough blood travels in the bone it's self to kill you in a few minutes if broken. EMT's need to use a "hare traction splint" as quickly as possible to help stabilize. It's pretty painful to the patient to even apply it and takes two rescuers to implement. In 8 years as an emt, I only used it once. We wound up getting the guy airlifted off Rt 78 after the State Police shut down the whole highway in both directions sometime after 3 in the morning.

 

[billski]

Thanks for the responses. Always more than meets the eye, plus early news reports barely have all the facts. It just seems to be a growing number of airlifts than ever before.