Every year, Rega flies around 30 missions after avalanche accidents, on average. Rapid rescue is key to survival, so for everyone involved, every minute counts after an avalanche. The crew’s optimum preparation is crucial to ensuring that everything goes smoothly. Even if Rega can arrive quickly at the site in an emergency, being rescued by companions on site gives avalanche victims the greatest chance of survival.
The annual mission statistics vary greatly and illustrate the unpredictability of avalanches. Generally speaking, the number of missions after avalanches reflects the snow conditions and the leisure-time behaviour of winter sports enthusiasts in Switzerland. Despite the intensity of the winter season, primary missions to provide medical care for avalanche victims account for just 0.5 percent of all of Rega’s primary missions*.
* Emergency missions directly at the scene of the incident
In the event of an avalanche, every minute counts. Being hit by an avalanche is life-threatening: around 43 percent of people who are completely buried by an avalanche succumb immediately to their injuries or die from suffocation. Only if a person can be found and rescued within a very short time will they have a good chance of survival.
Initially, the chance of survival is relatively high, around 90 percent. But the chance of survival decreases dramatically with each passing minute.
A buddy rescue and an efficient rescue chain are key. People buried under an avalanche who are rescued by their companions have three times a greater chance of survival.
Around 30 percent of people buried in an avalanche suffer a cardiac arrest. Reanimating a person under avalanche conditions is one of the most challenging tasks for the crews. The difficult surroundings – characterised by noise, snow and often steep terrain – in addition to the enormous time constraints demand not only medical skill but also excellent flying tactics and teamwork in order to maximise the patients’ chances of survival.
Avalanche missions are rare but incredibly time-critical. To ensure that the crews can work efficiently on an avalanche mission, Rega conducts training sessions in the open before each winter season. All the important steps are drilled: the search with the LVS avalanche transceiver, organisation at the site, digging out the people located and providing medical treatment. This ensures that each crew member is familiar with the steps in an avalanche mission.
Raising the alarm: Witnesses or victims alert the Rega Operations Center via the emergency number 1414 or the Rega app. The Rega mission coordinators immediately summon all rescuers and aids required for the avalanche mission: Rega helicopters that fly to the scene of the accident to locate and provide medical care for the victims, as well as avalanche rescue dog teams and mountain rescuers from Swiss Alpine Rescue (ARS) who are usually flown to the site in commercial helicopters.
Buddy rescue/immediate measures: Aid from companions is decisive in an avalanche accident: people buried under the snow who can be promptly located with the LVS and freed by companions have the best chance of survival. Therefore, the search should begin immediately after alerting Rega.
Arrival of the helicopter: The first Rega helicopter will conduct a search of the helicopter cone. If there are no witnesses, search equipment such as the LVS or RECCO detectors used from the air save valuable time.
Detailed search and medical care: The detailed search will then be conducted by rescue specialists and helicopters of the ARS – with avalanche rescue dogs and other mountain rescuers. Once freed from the snow, persons who were completely buried often have to be reanimated by an emergency flight physician or a paramedic. The Rega crew deals with initial medical care for the patients at the accident site; they often have several injuries and are suffering from hypothermia.
Swiss Alpine Rescue (ARS): In addition to the Rega helicopter, the Rega mission coordinators summon avalanche rescue dog teams and the ARS mountain rescuers, who are often flown to the site in commercial helicopters. The ARS is a foundation established by the Swiss Alpine Club SAC and Rega.
Helicopter companies: Commercial helicopter companies are an important source of support for transporting materials and mountain rescuers.
Other partners: In the event of avalanche missions on ski slopes, the cable car ski patrol officers assist. The partners of the emergency services can deliver materials to the accident site after an avalanche and help with treating patients and searching for people buried under the snow.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of cost. But, the more rescue equipment and rescuers that are summoned and deployed, the higher the costs will be. As a rule, the persons who were rescued or their insurance companies pay. Rega can decide to waive the mission costs for assistance it has provided or organised for its patrons, in accordance with its Conditions of Patronage, if the insurance company does not pay.
Rega Center
PO Box 1414
8058 Zurich Airport
Phone no.: +41 (0)44 654 37 37 (during office hours; available 24/7 in urgent cases)
E-mail: mediendienst@rega.ch (office hours)
