Bill Person will guide an OEC class at a ski resort near Truckee CA from Aug 23 to Nov 15, 2008.

Outdoor Emergency Care® is the National Ski Patrol’s award-winning training program for patrollers and others in the recreation community who deal with emergency situations. This nationally recognized program is designed to help you manage the toughest emergencies, in all seasons. Developed in the late 1980s for the 26,000 members of the National Ski Patrol, Outdoor Emergency Care is a training program that is tailored to the nonurban rescuer. Today, OEC is considered the standard of training for emergency care in the outdoor environment and is recognized by resorts and recreational facilities in all 50 states.

Anyone with a passion to become an excellent  patroller is welcome to the Truckee Weekender OEC class. The class is especially designed for students from throughout the Eastern Sierra and Mother Lode Regions who would rather drive to Tahoe seven times for an outdoor experience than make 25 peak time commutes in the Bay Area. The class also serves students from the Tahoe area and those who have schedule conflicts with with other OEC classes. 

Our course is designed to serve ski patrols in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee area. Our patrollers work within an hour of definitive care by ground transport and are serviced by helicopter transport for patients with urgent problems. Most high backcountry sites in the Basin have cell coverage and helicopter transport as well. We do not spend class time on any issues which are not important in this winter environment. Candidates expecting to work at remote ski areas or in a summer environment must put extra effort into the relevant textbook and workbook information.

The class schedule for 2008 is:

  • Aug 23 CPR/AED
  • Aug 24 & Sep 6 Assessment
  • Sep 7, 20-21
  • Oct 4 
  • Sun Oct 5 Midterm
  • Sat Oct 11 Backboard
  • Sun Oct 12
  • Oct 25-26
  • Nov 8-9
  • Sun Nov 9 Written Final
  • Sat Nov 15 Practical Final (8am @ Piedmont Middle School)

The class will meet 10am-5:00pm on Saturdays and 8am-3:00pm on Sundays.

The course includes AHA BLS (CPR/AED.) The OEC course will be largely "hands on." If you need information about this course that is not on the web site, please email Bill Person at oec@billperson.org. Please do not contact me about the status of any other classes. You must complete registration by August 9. You must also arrange to have the textbook, workbook and CPR text by that date.

The OEC text, like any medical text, is very difficult reading. There is a substantial reading assignment to be completed before the first class session. You should plan on spending 75-100 hours of reading and workbook activities before and during the course. The brief lectures in this class DO NOT go over the text book content but rather focus on the information needed to perform on the hill. However, the nationally mandated written final examination tests students on detailed information from the textbook so it is essential that students read and absorb all material in the textbook. The written final examination will be given on Saturday Nov 9. You must score 75% or higher to successfully complete the course. The needs of students not used to learning from books without lecture support would be better met by another class or by attending an EMT course before undertaking OEC.

This course will make extensive use of email and of the World Wide Web for communication and instruction especially before the class begins. Accommodation (and an additional reproduction charge) will be made for students without Web or email access. Be sure to talk with me if you won't check email regularly between August 1 and the end of the course.

Registration Procedure

Click Here to register or click the register menu item on the left side of the screen. Please do not register until you are committed to attend the Truckee class. Do not register for this course expecting to transfer your payment to another course. Please consider carefully before you register. Refunds are possible only if another student takes the position you registered for.

Instructors:

The success of this class depends on the help of many experienced patrollers who volunteer to help with the classes. If you are an experienced patroller who would like to help, I would appreciate it if you would give me your patroller information and I will send you a copy of the instructor CD-ROM.