RavenMed Scenario: First Aid For Mountain Biking

Use this scenario to put your Raven Medical 80-hour Wilderness First Responder skills to the test.

Fill out a set of our RavenMed SOAP notes with your assessment, and compare your response to ours… which will be uploaded to this post in about a week!

First Aid For Mountain Biking Scenario

LOCATION: Golden, BC

ENVIRONMENT: Beautiful fall day; 24 C partly cloudy, with a light breeze

SCENE: You and 4 friends are out mountain biking

ACCIDENT: Rock fall from above scattered the trail in front of Maggie (missing her directly) while she was descending.  Maggie swerved in an attempt to miss the largest of the rocks, losing control and going over the side of the trail. Maggie and her bike were seen tumbling down the embankment approx. 17 m, where she then came to rest on a small ledge. Her friends could see that she was moaning and moving around a bit.

TIME: 3:00pm

INITIAL VITALS:

• AVPU = verbal
• Pulse = 95
• Resp = 15

INITIAL PATIENT SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS: Physical exam reveals multiple lacerations and abrasions to her arms and legs. She has many bruises with the most notable being a large bruise in her upper left quadrant of her abdoment. She is looking pale and is moaning and speaking a few incoherent words every now and again. She is uncooperative and is wiggling around despite her friends begging her to be still.

ADDITIONAL STORY: It takes you all awhile to figure out how to get to Maggie safely and how to stablize her. Immediately after Maggie fell, 2 of your friends took off down the trail to the car to call for help. You are staying with Maggie, and continue to monitor her.

TIME: 3:30 pm.  Vitals are AVPU = Awake and anxious. Pulse = 115.  Resp = 18.

TIME: 3:40 pm.  Vitals are AVPU = Awake and anxious. Pulse = 126.  Resp = 20.

RESOURCES: All your friends have their phones with them. There is spotty coverage up in some parts and the last time you noticed you had service was up at the ridge about a 40 min ride UP from where Maggie fell.  It is about a 45 min ride down from here to where you left a car to run the shuttle.  From where the car is parked, it is about a 25 minute drive to the closest town.

NEXT STEPS

On a RavenMed SOAP note, write up your Problem List and Treatment Plan for Maggie for 3:40pm.

Next, develop your evacuation plan and a back-up plan. Think critically about what you’ll need to perform effective first aid for mountain biking emergencies in the backcountry.

Special thanks to Sierra Rescue for the use of this scenario, straight from their Wilderness Medical Workbook.  Get your copy of this workbook on your next RavenMedical Wilderness First Responder course!

FROM THE EXPERTS

While your judgement and decision-making will make your handling of this scenario unique, these SOAPs from the experts at Raven Medical are the standard by which you should measure your own response…