Backcountry Incident Management School - Denver - September 2024

Risk Management Course

Backcountry Incident Management School

Bring order to a chaotic situation. Although rare within the CMC, backcountry incidents when they do happen are stressful, confusing, and the wrong activities can potentially compound to make a bad situation even worse. For those who have always wanted a means to review, practice, and improve the skills needed to successfully manage the initial aspects of an unforeseen incident, the BIM School's purpose is to help you meet those needs.

Backcountry Incident Management School
“Bring Order to a Chaotic Situation”

Mission:  To provide a realistic hands-on Backcountry Incident Management experience, intended to minimize any unintended consequences of a medical or other backcountry emergency by employing more effective skills and techniques.

Objectives:

  • Students to practice basic skills and techniques with the goal to observe and personally determine what tends to work under adverse conditions… and what tends not to.
  • Students to experience and become more comfortable with the end-to-end incident management process.

For those individuals wanting more experience managing an unexpected backcountry incident, i.e., a more meaningful experience, the Backcountry Incident Management School can provide that hands-on opportunity.  As you may have learned while taking WFA, there are several important “roles” that are part of most every backcountry challenge.

These roles consist of a First Aid Team, a Get Help Team, a Bivy Team, and an Incident Manager.  The Incident Manager (IM) will coordinate the actions and activities of the other three roles.  As a review:
  • The First Aid Team will assess the nature of the injured party, consult with the IM to confirm the accident site is safe, and if not, coordinate resources to relocate the victim to a safer location.  In addition to performing the primary and secondary physical checks, the First Aid Team will document patient vitals for the Help Team.

  • The Help Team will work with the IM to develop a plan to contact help, whether that is by phone, SPOT, or hiking back to the trailhead.  Using the documented information from the First Aid Team, the Help Team will share with 911/SAR the nature of the incident/injuries and offer advice on the assistance deemed necessary.

  • In the event of a prolonged incident, the Bivy Team will coordinate with the Incident Manager to develop a plan to establish shelter, start a fire, warm water, and (if appropriate) determine the means to locally signal for help.  Whether the stay is several hours or overnight, the Bivy Team will make efforts to keep the patient and the other group participants warm and dry

In theory all this may sound somewhat straightforward, but in practice there are countless nuances that can make the difference between a good outcome, or, through a sequence of questionable choices, make the problem more challenging.  “Effectiveness” will be the operative word.

To provide suggestions and guidance during this most stressful time, the BIM School has developed a set of Incident Management Cards.  These cards can be accessed and downloaded at (Backcountry Incident Management & First Aid Resources and Procedures — The Colorado Mountain Club (cmc.org) ).  As part of the field day, each student will be provided with a water-resistant card set.

Dates for 2024:
  • 5/18:  May field day
  • 9/14:  September field day

Participants will enroll in only one of the two dates available.

Prerequisites:

  • Successful completion of a Wilderness First Aid course
  • A current CMC member 18 years or older

Tuition:  $30 once enrolled into the course (please review the CMC Tuition Refund Policy below).  Should the BIM School instructors need to travel to another CMC Group location, tuition will be $45 to cover gas milage.

Enrollment:  The course is typically limited to eight students per field day. 

Should the course fill, CMC members can get on the Wait List by going through the standard on-line enrollment process.  No tuition money will be paid until that member is moved to the official Participant List.  Should there be an opening, moving to the Participant List is not automatic but will be done by the course director.  Accepted individuals will be notified by email and will be asked to contact the CMC office to now pay their enrollment tuition. 

In the event there is insufficient student enrollment, and a field day needs to be canceled, students will receive a full refund.  Since the $30 tuition is less than the $35 CMC processing fee, if you elect to withdraw from a field day there will be no refund.  However, a credit can be applied per the second paragraph in the CMC Tuition Refund Policy below.

Equipment:  Once accepted into the course, a list of recommended items will be provided for students to acquire as part of their pre-course “homework.”  The homework will also include watching a few YouTube videos in an effort to refresh and supplement current skills.

For Additional Information:  Contact Rich McAdams  Rich.McAdams@hotmail.com  refer to the “BIM School” in the subject line.

CMC Tuition Refund Policy:

Cancellation requests made prior to 7 days before the course: Full refund less 35% of fee paid up to $30 OR full credit can be transferred to a future session of the same school without incurring a processing fee. This can only be done one time and applies to courses on the calendar at time of cancellation. If a future session is not available, then a refund will be issued less the aforementioned fee.  No refund will be granted 7 days or less prior to the course. No credit will be allowed for future classes. 

Course Requirements

This course has no scheduled activities.

Roster
Required Equipment

Once accepted into the course, a list of recommended items will be provided for students to acquire as part of their pre-course “homework.”  The homework will also include watching a few YouTube videos in an effort to refresh and supplement your skills.