Pretty much every climber has heard of that place far away at the other side of the world.Â
Probably even most indoor-boulderers have heard of Nepal.
Just over a week ago we were driving to Swiss for a 3-day course as part of our Expedition program. Menno Boermans was about to teach us everything we needed to know to survive and help others in mountaineering accidents.
When driving to Switzerland we heard about the Nepal earthquake. At that time there were at about 300 deaths reported.Â
With every hour the number raised, 400, 500, 800, 1000.
The level of the course was comparable to a Wilderness First Responder Course.
After asking our general first aid experience we started straight to the worst-case-scenarios.
Instead of first listening to the theory behind care and the right treatments; Menno took us outdoors and let us work out how to help the Woman laying on the glacier.
The woman on the glacier was Ilse. The owner of the Chalet we stayed in with the group. She acted well and with the make-up she really did look like she was in shock.
I was supposed to know how to act, but forgot so much! I got dragged away in the chaos of our group, didnât act like I was taught over seven years ago. Like I was taught how to act in Iceland. And like how I taught others to act when teaching First Aid in the Netherlands.
We learned about blood, about bandages, about CPR, about all the things you need to know when youâre on your own with the nearest ambulance over 500km away.
Meanwhile in Nepal everyone is still on their own. With a huge shortage on not just ambulances, but basically everything a human needs to survive.
After a while I got to know all people I personally know in Nepal are safe.
Meaning: all Europeans tourists climbing the Himalayan mountains are safe. Soon theyâll fly home to their homes and live in luxury again. Luxury, yes, because when you have the finances to climb a mountain like Everest: you are rich.
But thatâs just a few people. Nothing. Not important. Compared to all the Nepalese that stay behind without houses, without water.
At the Bekker Chalet it was the first time we got to know our whole group. Face-to-face for the first time. Some of us live in Swiss so most organisation, meetings was done through Skype calls.
But once again we noticed it is oh-so-important to really meet-up and just be together in real life instead of the digital life.
Today the reports about Nepal told us the number has raised to 4000. The first images appeared online.
At the second day we headed up into the snow. Our first casualty way laying on a hill, higher up. It was cold, there was rockfall and thus we had to act fast.
Who would do what and when and how were we supposed to communicate?
It was all so obvious and still it wasnât. It became chaos again.
All the terms I ever learned, from AMPLE to MIST to basic radio communication were gone. Even I got so frustrated I screamed âshut upâ! To one of our team members who tried to speed things up by screaming we had to hurry without thinking about our own safety first.
How did they all feel when the earth shook, and shook again? Did they stay all so calm, like theyâve been taught before? Did they first think of their own safety instead of their children?
We evaluated the scenario and went on to the next. Yet again it went a little better.
Maybe the scenarioâs werenât as important for us in terms of First Aid but important for us as group. How to work together, getting to know each other.
In the end I think we kind-of got it. But we all felt we still need to climb together, eat together. Basically just be together more often.
Four months to figure this out.
Will it be enough?
In four months time almost all of you wonât remember much of what happened last April in Nepal. Like always: itâs far away and getting a new iPhone is far more important than a homeless child at the other side of the World.
I also probably have forgotten most details by the time. And I will think about what food to pack for my expedition instead of what food the Nepalese will eat after most rice-fields have been destroyed by the earthquake.Â
Still I hope all our help and donations will last a little longer. Longer than just the four months. So we can give the real mountain people a bit of a future, a bit of hope.
First Aid for Nepal
Pretty much every climber has heard of that place far away at the other side of the world.Â
Probably even most indoor-boulderers have heard of Nepal.
Just over a week ago we were driving to Swiss for a 3-day course as part of our Expedition program. Menno Boermans was about to teach us everything we needed to know to survive and help others in mountaineering accidents.
When driving to Switzerland we heard about the Nepal earthquake. At that time there were at about 300 deaths reported.Â
With every hour the number raised, 400, 500, 800, 1000.
The level of the course was comparable to a Wilderness First Responder Course.
After asking our general first aid experience we started straight to the worst-case-scenarios.
Instead of first listening to the theory behind care and the right treatments; Menno took us outdoors and let us work out how to help the Woman laying on the glacier.
The woman on the glacier was Ilse. The owner of the Chalet we stayed in with the group. She acted well and with the make-up she really did look like she was in shock.
I was supposed to know how to act, but forgot so much! I got dragged away in the chaos of our group, didnât act like I was taught over seven years ago. Like I was taught how to act in Iceland. And like how I taught others to act when teaching First Aid in the Netherlands.
We learned about blood, about bandages, about CPR, about all the things you need to know when youâre on your own with the nearest ambulance over 500km away.
Meanwhile in Nepal everyone is still on their own. With a huge shortage on not just ambulances, but basically everything a human needs to survive.
After a while I got to know all people I personally know in Nepal are safe.
Meaning: all Europeans tourists climbing the Himalayan mountains are safe. Soon theyâll fly home to their homes and live in luxury again. Luxury, yes, because when you have the finances to climb a mountain like Everest: you are rich.
But thatâs just a few people. Nothing. Not important. Compared to all the Nepalese that stay behind without houses, without water.
At the Bekker Chalet it was the first time we got to know our whole group. Face-to-face for the first time. Some of us live in Swiss so most organisation, meetings was done through Skype calls.
But once again we noticed it is oh-so-important to really meet-up and just be together in real life instead of the digital life.
Today the reports about Nepal told us the number has raised to 4000. The first images appeared online.
At the second day we headed up into the snow. Our first casualty way laying on a hill, higher up. It was cold, there was rockfall and thus we had to act fast.
Who would do what and when and how were we supposed to communicate?
It was all so obvious and still it wasnât. It became chaos again.
All the terms I ever learned, from AMPLE to MIST to basic radio communication were gone. Even I got so frustrated I screamed âshut upâ! To one of our team members who tried to speed things up by screaming we had to hurry without thinking about our own safety first.
How did they all feel when the earth shook, and shook again? Did they stay all so calm, like theyâve been taught before? Did they first think of their own safety instead of their children?
We evaluated the scenario and went on to the next. Yet again it went a little better.
Maybe the scenarioâs werenât as important for us in terms of First Aid but important for us as group. How to work together, getting to know each other.
In the end I think we kind-of got it. But we all felt we still need to climb together, eat together. Basically just be together more often.
Four months to figure this out.
Will it be enough?
In four months time almost all of you wonât remember much of what happened last April in Nepal. Like always: itâs far away and getting a new iPhone is far more important than a homeless child at the other side of the World.
I also probably have forgotten most details by the time. And I will think about what food to pack for my expedition instead of what food the Nepalese will eat after most rice-fields have been destroyed by the earthquake.Â
Still I hope all our help and donations will last a little longer. Longer than just the four months. So we can give the real mountain people a bit of a future, a bit of hope.
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