Patrol & Winter Medicine

Patrol at the Next Level

The University of Colorado Wilderness and Environmental Medicine Section has been working with our home state’s ski patrols for many years. Through these partnerships we’ve been able to refine our educational offerings, producing high-yield and meaningful curriculum that is on the forefront of best-practice medical care for this unique group of prehospital responders.

Our experienced faculty are available for a variety of educational sessions including lectures, workshops, and conferences. We can provide pre-season and in-season CME topics that satisfy recertification requirements for OEC/EMT/paramedic patrol members. This includes innovative “on-hill” scenarios to integrate advanced medical training into the routine activities of the day without disruption to the priorities of the day’s operations.

The Patrol Medicine Symposium is a one-day conference for active patrollers focused on evidence-based medical care and backcountry rescue topics. It offers a concentrated opportunity to complete CME and a way to network with the larger patrol community.

This unique program enables active ski patrollers to shadow medical experts performing their skills in diverse clinical settings including prehospital EMS, emergency, and surgical environments. Patroller-participants will develop a better understanding of what care patients receive after they leave the ski area. Working alongside EMTs, paramedics, PAs/NPs, and physicians, patrollers will be able to learn if these different careers might appeal to their own professional goals providing patient care.

CU Wilderness Medicine in partnership with the Colorado Mountain School offers annual training in AIARE Level One avalanche training and Avalanche Rescue.

For additional information on these programs, contact David Braun, PA-C, Patrol and Winter Medicine Coordinator at david.braun@cuanschutz.edu.