Why did the top ski instructor die in the snow field？
The end of the trail should not be orthopedics.
On November 10, the news that "the only female coach in China died in a ski resort" was posted on the hot search. A number of media reports said that the accident occurred on the afternoon of November 7, and Zhou Moping, a well-known ski instructor in China, had an accident while skiing in the Cocoto Sea Snow Resort in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. He was unfortunately killed that night because of ineffective rescue.
It is understood that after the accident, the Cocoto Sea Snow Resort also urgently installed a protective net on the whole line. As of press time, the local police are still investigating the cause of the accident. The staff of Fuyun County Government said that the official announcement on the process and details of the accident will be publicly released on the website of Fuyun County People’s Government.
What is puzzling is that a professional ski instructor with strong skiing ability and rich skiing experience will lose his life in the ski resort. What is wrong with the management and medical safety of the ski resort?
Zhou Moping’s skiing map/Zhou Moping Zoye video screenshot
It’s all because of the follow-up?
China Newsweek learned that on the morning of November 8, the news of Zhou Moping’s unfortunate death had already spread in the ski circle.
Huai Wei, the deputy chief physician of the emergency department of the Third Hospital of Beijing Medical University, who once undertook and carried out the rescue mission of the alpine skiing field in the Beijing Winter Olympics, told China Newsweek that he was shocked and very sad after learning the news of Zhou Moping’s death.
Huai Wei once received professional skiing training under the guidance of Zhou Moping in the early stage of the competition because of performing the medical security task of the Winter Olympics. "We have a lot of ski doctors in the same batch who have been trained by her, and they all feel too sorry, because coach Zhou is a very good person. She is currently the only female coach in China who has passed the certification of the New Zealand Ski System, and the only woman in China who has achieved this achievement. There is no problem with her skiing ability. "
Huai Wei recalled: "Our group of Winter Olympics doctors began to assemble in 2018, and they spent four weeks in Chongli for training every winter. One of the training contents is the training of medical first aid skills in skiing events, and the other is the training of skiing skills. Because for ski doctors, it is very important to adapt to different snow conditions, different slopes and different terrains in snow rescue and reach the injured in the first time. The Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has very high requirements for our training, and has arranged a group of high-level coaches for us. Coach Zhou is one of them. "
In Huai Wei’s impression, Zhou Moping has rich teaching experience and outstanding foreign language ability, and can directly be a translator for foreign ski instructors. "Her character is gentle and gentle, and her voice is very light, but she is very serious about teaching, such as the angle of the vertical edge of the ankle, the timing of the shift of the center of gravity, the adjustment of the power part and other sliding skills, and she will also make video recordings for each of us, and resume the training after the training, patiently correcting the wrong actions for each student one by one." Huai Wei said.
The specific cause of death of Zhou Moping has not been officially announced by the local authorities and their families. According to the information from the Internet, "At 14: 10 on November 7, Zhou Moumou slid with Xueyou at Qinggeli Road in Cocotohai International Ski Resort and followed the shot, and slipped to the intersection of Qinggeli Road and Tianhe Stone Road. Because of avoiding shooting Xueyou, he slipped out of control and was injured outside the road. At 19: 25, he died after being rescued by Fuyun County People’s Hospital. "
After the accident, the relevant personnel of Xinjiang Altai Tourism Development Group voiced to the media, saying: "At the time of the incident, male skiers skied behind and female skiers filmed in front of them, and then the female skiers rushed out of the snowy road to avoid male skiers."
This remark proves that Zhou Moping did have a follow-up behavior before the accident.
Nan Chao, a ski instructor at a ski resort in Beijing, also provides a part-time follow-up service. He told China Newsweek that he had attended the course of Zhou Moping, and he also received the news of Zhou Moping’s death in the early morning of November 8, and he was sad for a long time.
For the follow-up shooting with different opinions on the Internet, Nan Chao introduced the current mainstream business form: "At present, the mainstream way of skiing and shooting is to hold miniature panoramic shooting equipment, which is small and convenient. Specifically, the follower can install the micro device on the’ racket pole’, hold the’ racket pole’ to slide with the target object and record it, or take a selfie. The follower skies almost at the same speed as the target object, and can slide in the back, on both sides or even around the front. "
"Some people will tie a motion camera to their head or chest to follow the target object, or ask someone to follow the drone remotely. These two methods are also used by some people. The former does not need a hand-held device, but can’t see the real-time picture. The picture is accompanied by jitter, and the latter can take a spectacular panorama, and the photographer does not necessarily follow the slide, which is relatively safe."
In Nan Chao’s view, the highest level but relatively dangerous method is to hold a pan-tilt stabilizer with a SLR camera to follow. "Because it is a SLR camera, its advantage lies in its very high definition and film quality, which is suitable for some skiers who have high requirements for image quality. However, due to the fact that the PTZ stabilizer and the SLR camera are relatively heavy, and the photographer needs to face the skier and slide backwards, the requirements for skiing technology are extremely high, and the balance direction and shooting quality should be taken into account. "
"Most of the skiers here buy the follow-up service, and generally there are not many requirements. As long as there is a complete and smooth video that can be sent to a circle of friends, they will be very happy, but some people want to show off and improve the coolness of short videos, so they pursue some more difficult follow-ups." Nan Chao revealed that he had been asked by some skiers who bought services. During the sliding process, he extended the "racket pole" to the vicinity of his snowboard and deliberately captured the effect of "lifting a piece of snow" on his snowboard.
"Although this kind of follow-up is not inoperable, it is also difficult. When the photographer slides, he takes care of the position of both of them, and also finds the right time to extend the’ racket pole’ and put it in the right position, so the photographer can’t keep his eyes on the front at all times and is easily distracted. In addition, because the distance between the two is very close, the follower and the subject are easy to collide and wrestle, and the shooting equipment is also easy to be damaged. " Nan Chao said: "The most important thing is that both skiers and photographers should pay attention to avoiding other skiers in time, which is also difficult."
Nan Chao stressed that according to the existing information disclosure, it is not certain that the cause of Zhou Moping’s accident must be related to the filming behavior, and the local conclusions should prevail. But it is almost certain that major accidents in ski resorts are generally related to excessive speed. "In the outdoor snow field, senior experts generally slide very fast, and the speed can reach 80-90 kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to the speed of cars on the highway. Once the speed is too fast, the probability of accidental loss of control may increase whether there is a follow-up behavior or not. "
Ski-following hand-held stabilizer and SLR camera reverse sliding map/video screenshot
The helicopter didn’t participate in the rescue?
According to public information, Keketuohai International Ski Resort is located in the national 5A scenic spot of Keketuohai in Fuyun County, with the highest elevation of 3,100 meters and the maximum vertical drop of 1,350 meters. The ski resort has the longest ski trail "Gemstone Avenue" in China, which can slide for 9 kilometers, and the steepest "Black Diamond Trail" in China, with a height difference of 227 meters and an average gradient of 71.28%, and the "Diamond Trail" which can meet the international competition of downhill skiing in the mountains in China, with a maximum drop of 900 meters. It has been certified by Guinness Headquarters of Shanghai World as the ski resort with the largest drop in altitude of snow trails in China.
"When it comes to the rescue of the Cocoto Sea Snow Resort, it is actually very reliable in my experience." Wang Rui, who went skiing in Cocotohai Ski Resort not long ago, shared two experiences called rescue with China Newsweek.
"First of all, there are many places outside the snowy road of Cocoto Sea where the telephone number of the rescue team is written. At that time, my friend snow goggles, who came to play with me, was foggy. Because it was too cold, my eyes couldn’t see the frozen lenses, so we called for help. Just before we even took off our skis, help arrived. The second time, I fell to my ribs. I felt very painful and called for rescue. At that time, I couldn’t describe my specific location. The rescue team took a video call with me and took me to the infirmary in 2 minutes. I remember that it was a Kazakh eldest brother who came to pick me up. Seeing that I was too painful to walk, he deliberately put the speed of the snowmobile very slowly and carefully avoided those bumpy places. "
The rescue map of the patrol rescue team of Cocotohai Ski Resort/Cocotohai Ski Resort WeChat official account
The video of Zhou Moping’s on-site rescue spread on the Internet shows that there is a team of about 10 people at Keketuohai Ski Resort to handle Zhou Moping’s rescue and transshipment. After that, the rescue team lifted Zhou Moping onto the special stretcher for snow, and a rescue team member slid and dragged the snowy road with two boards. In the process, the snowmobile driver was responsible for evacuation and opening the road.
In Wang Rui’s view, there is no problem with the response speed of the rescue in Keketuohai Ski Resort, but the fast response speed does not mean that it can reach a higher professional rescue level. "The accident that Zhou Moping encountered was sudden and too serious. I think it is beyond the handling capacity of the snow rescue team."
After Zhou Mouping was killed, some netizens questioned why the Cocotohai Ski Resort was far away from Fuyun County People’s Hospital, and why helicopters were not urgently used for rescue.
According to public information, there are indeed helicopters at Cocotohai Ski Resort. China Newsweek has learned from many sources that it is mainly used for tourists’ sightseeing, but it is difficult to undertake the medical treatment and transshipment functions of sudden major crises.
Cocoto Sea Ski Resort Helicopter Service Price List/Tailv Group Official Weibo
Huai Wei told China News Weekly: "Skiers encounter extreme accidents in the snow field. The most ideal, fastest and highest standard rescue method can refer to the guarantee requirements of large-scale ice and snow sports events, but it is difficult to benchmark the daily operation and medical security of the snow field at present."
According to Huai Wei, according to the requirements of the International Skiing Federation, when an athlete falls to the ground in a skiing event, the skier should bring all the first-aid equipment and medicines, carry a rescue bag weighing 15 kilograms, and rely on skilled skiing skills close to professional level to reach the athlete within 4 minutes, and make a preliminary assessment and rapid treatment of the injury in a cold environment, such as fixation of the fracture, dressing of the bleeding part, analgesic treatment, etc., and quickly transfer the injured person off the track on the premise of ensuring the stability of the injury. After that, it needs to be determined as soon as possible and accurately whether to transfer to the athletes’ medical station quickly or call the helicopter to participate in the rescue transfer.
"If it is a helicopter rescue, according to the requirements, in alpine skiing, ski jumping and other projects, the helicopter needs to reach the patient within 5 minutes after the athlete is injured, and deliver the patient to the nearest designated hospital within 15 minutes. A well-equipped medical helicopter is still different from a rescue helicopter. It will be equipped with first-aid equipment such as oxygen cylinders, vacuum stretchers, sputum aspirators, ventilators and defibrillation monitors. "
Ren Hongxiang, director of the Medical Committee of Beijing Ski Association and deputy chief physician of neurosurgery department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, who also has medical support experience in the Winter Olympics, told China Newsweek: "The cost of helicopter rescue is very high. At present, although the economic level of China has been greatly improved, there is still a certain gap compared with the ski tourism countries in Europe and America. At present, it is impossible to realize free helicopter rescue of public welfare nature. This requires the whole society, relevant departments and institutions to establish and improve relevant mechanisms for commercial insurance in the field of special high-risk sports. "
Ren Hongxiang pointed out: "From the practical experience of ski resorts and sports events around Beijing in recent years, because the expressway networks in Beijing and Zhangjiakou are relatively developed and convenient, assuming that there is an accident in Chongli’s ski resorts, ambulances can be transported to local hospitals nearby or sent back to Beijing. Theoretically, most emergency treatments can be handled in time and effectively."
"However, some ski resorts in other provinces and cities are generally located in remote areas, or because of special topography, or because highways are vulnerable to extreme weather closures, etc., resulting in long transshipment time. Therefore, in terms of the application of helicopter rescue in the future, the relevant departments of provinces and cities where such ski resorts are located really need to make some relevant considerations. "
Huai Wei added that under the current objective conditions, some "upgrades" and "reinforcements" should be considered for both personnel and first aid equipment. "On the one hand, the medical training of rescuers in the snow field needs to be strengthened, and the first-aid materials in the infirmary need to be further enriched, which is very important for the accurate assessment and initial disposal of the injured."
For example, Huai Wei said, "If a skier is injured, it is necessary to make local fixation before transport, but the snow clinic may not be equipped with neck brace, sternum strap and other equipment, and the operation of rescuers may not be professional and skilled. In this case, the injured person is prone to secondary injury during transport."
"In addition, in terms of transshipment, in the absence of air transshipment, in addition to promoting safe and fast ground transshipment as much as possible, relevant parties can also consider establishing a remote consultation mechanism for seriously injured patients. In case of sudden major accidents, through modern technologies such as 5G, some experts in big cities will be connected for remote online video consultation, and relevant experienced experts will provide remote guidance to avoid serious adverse consequences caused by some serious injuries and hidden injuries."
Ren Hongxiang also called on the relevant parties to consider establishing a set of national standards for medical rescue in snow as soon as possible, and relying on this standard, extensively carrying out the training of relevant medical rescue personnel nationwide and setting up the examination and certification work, and promoting the continuous increase of the reserve of medical rescue talents is the fundamental and core to solve this problem.
Skiing in wild snow is more dangerous.
Jeff, a skier who also visited Cocoto Sea not long ago, told China Newsweek: "There are more dangerous places near Cocoto Sea Ski Resort than this accident."
"There are almost no skiers who come to Cocoto Sea who don’t go’ skiing wild snow’." Wang Rui also agreed.
The so-called "skiing in wild snow" means skiing in mountains, Woods, rocky forests and other places outside the jurisdiction of ski resorts. Jeff said: "Cocoto Sea Snow Resort is one of the two or three largest snow resorts in China. Because of its terrain, it is famous in two aspects. First, its skiing cycle can be said to be the longest in the country, generally from October to May next year, and the snow period spans about 6 months, while the snow field in the northeast is generally 4 months; The second famous place is the regular and wild snow trails inside and outside the snow field, which are many and long. "
Jeff further explained: "The geographical location of Cocoto Sea is very partial, close to the border line between Mongolia and Kazakhstan, 6 hours’ drive from Urumqi, 2 hours’ drive from downtown Altay and 1 hour’s drive from Fuyun County, so the traffic is not very convenient. Moreover, apart from skiing, Cocoto Sea has almost no leisure, entertainment and catering services. Therefore, the’ Little White’ with a low position generally does not come to experience Coco Tuohai in the beginner’s stage, and almost all of them have grown into talents with certain experience and technology to play. "
"Skiing in the snow field is definitely forbidden, and the safety tips are in place, including both sides of the road, service halls, hilltop cabins, cable car broadcasts, etc., which will constantly remind you of the danger of wild snow." Jeff said, "But the skiers who come to play are tacitly aware of each other. Everyone’s general mentality is that it will take so much time to come here, and if you don’t ski, you will lose. In addition to the regular ski trails, the wild ski trails are also not available in most ski resorts in China, so many skiers who want to experience the excitement basically only come to Cocoto to experience the wild snow. "
Ski lovers take selfies and slide wild snow in the Cocoto Sea/video screenshot
Jeff recalled that he was not very worried and scared when he went skiing in the wild snow. "I think so many people have experienced it, and the online strategy is so full, and there is no reason why I can’t succeed."
"But looking back now, I have a lingering fear." Jeff said, "After all, the wild snow trail has not been developed by the standard of the snow field, and the water is very deep. First of all, it will take a long time to slide on the wild snow trail, and people may be exhausted in the process, and the terrain of the wild snow trail is chaotic. For example, there are some rocky piles, big pits and unpressed snow, and once people get stuck, they may not stand up at all, and there are often wolves in the wild snow trail. "
According to public reports, there are frequent cases in Cocotohai Ski Resort where skiers go skiing in wild snow and lose contact, which requires a lot of manpower to rescue them. "As far as my experience of skiing in the wild snow is concerned, perhaps one of the few things that I did correctly was to buy a walkie-talkie with my friends and take care of each other, because during the skiing in the wild snow, there may be no signal on the mobile phone." Jeff said, "But I didn’t buy insurance before I came. I saw the footprints of wolves during skiing, and I was scared to death. In the future, I guess I won’t go skiing again except normal skiing."
In Ren Hongxiang’s view, many skiers don’t listen to dissuasion to ski in wild snow. Once an accident occurs, it will only cause greater difficulties to the rescue work. "After all, it is very difficult for medical rescuers to get up to these wild snow trails in snowy areas with a relatively large geographical gap, not to mention effective rescue. In addition, there are some forests, even if helicopters can be enabled, it is difficult to stop. "
In the circle of skiers, there is a saying that at the end of the ski trail is orthopedics. However, in the eyes of professionals, as a sport with good participation and appreciation, the end should never be orthopedics, which also requires participants and service providers to constantly improve safety awareness and safeguard measures, fear this sport and respect life.
(At the request of the respondents, Nan Chao, Wang Rui and Jeff are pseudonyms.)
Author: Ye Everest
Source: China Newsweek
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