Collapsed lung

[Mtns2Skies]

Pilot friend of mine got caught in an avalanche while skiing with me. Just a partially collapsed lung... Does the FAA care?

 

[wabower]

Probably not nearly as much as he does. Where were you skiing?

Pilot friend of mine got caught in an avalanche while skiing with me. Just a partially collapsed lung... Does the FAA care?

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Probably not nearly as much as he does. Where were you skiing?

back country Estes Park, CO. I feel responsible I'm the one with avalanche training but I just checked one slope mid way and forgot to check higher up

 

[bbchien]

Yes, they do care.

 

[poadeleted20]

FAA won't care as long as he doesn't fly until it's healed and reports the medical treatment on his next application.

 

[wabower]

Sorry for the heartburn, but glad the outcome was survivable. My only experience with such events was watching the cannons many years ago. Most of the time nothing happened, but the occasional slide was amazing to see. Do you wear the breathing bags now?

back country Estes Park, CO. I feel responsible I'm the one with avalanche training but I just checked one slope mid way and forgot to check higher up

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Sorry for the heartburn, but glad the outcome was survivable. My only experience with such events was watching the cannons many years ago. Most of the time nothing happened, but the occasional slide was amazing to see. Do you wear the breathing bags now?

The ava-lung? No I figure prevention is the best method but I do carry beacons, probes and shovels, and it's also not particularly useful unless your hands are free enough to get the breathing tube into your mouth. He was able to ski down well enough and I drove him to a hospital.

 

[Clark1961]

He was able to ski down well enough and I drove him to a hospital.

Having been hauled to the hospital and hauled others to the hospital. You really don't know the extent of possible injury and if it is abdominal it may be better to call for medivac. It's a tough call but moving someone with abdominal injury can be a very bad thing even if they feel fine at the moment. I helped my neighbor up after a bad fall. Twenty minutes later that neighbor was on a backboard and neck brace being loaded on an ambulance. He felt okay after I helped him up (or so he said).

 

[Mtns2Skies]

Having been hauled to the hospital and hauled others to the hospital. You really don't know the extent of possible injury and if it is abdominal it may be better to call for medivac. It's a tough call but moving someone with abdominal injury can be a very bad thing even if they feel fine at the moment. I helped my neighbor up after a bad fall. Twenty minutes later that neighbor was on a backboard and neck brace being loaded on an ambulance. He felt okay after I helped him up (or so he said).

Yeah you're absolutely right.

 

[Clark1961]

Yeah you're absolutely right.

It can be a really tough call. Maybe no right answer sometimes...

 

[dell30rb]

Having been hauled to the hospital and hauled others to the hospital. You really don't know the extent of possible injury and if it is abdominal it may be better to call for medivac. It's a tough call but moving someone with abdominal injury can be a very bad thing even if they feel fine at the moment. I helped my neighbor up after a bad fall. Twenty minutes later that neighbor was on a backboard and neck brace being loaded on an ambulance. He felt okay after I helped him up (or so he said).

Had a similar situation.

After a day of motocross track riding, a friend and I decided to hit some trails. Riding through a field with somewhat tall grass, my friend hit an unseen rock, the bike swapped once or twice and kicked him off the highside.

He got right up. We sat him down and he complained of a little back pain but said he was fine but wanted to ride home. He seemed a little out of it so we quickly made plans to get his dad to pick us up in a truck at the nearest service road.

We got to the service road and his dad picked us up. Once in the truck it was obvious he had a concussion, and so we drove straight to the hospital. He didn't remember what day it was or why he was wearing his riding gear. This was not so obvious right after the crash. It turned out he had broken two vertebra in his back as well. He wound up hospitalized for the next few days and though he made a full recovery, I shudder at the thought of him riding around with a spine injury like that.

Sometimes the adrenaline from a situation where an injury occurs will cover up the severity of the injury. Unless you are in more danger by staying put, always best to allow time to really assess the situation

 

[Bob Noel]

caveat: I'm not a doctor.

Had a stupid klutz accident resulting in a tear in my diaphram partially collapsing my left lung.

Self grounded (duh - was in the hospital for two weeks) - didn't fly until medically cleared to resume normal activities and was off prescription pain killers for more than a few weeks. Was grounded for slightly more than 4 months.

I brought all the ER, surgery, and doctor reports to the AME the following year and it was a non-issue.

 

[poadeleted21]

The ava-lung? No I figure prevention is the best method but I do carry beacons, probes and shovels, and it's also not particularly useful unless your hands are free enough to get the breathing tube into your mouth. He was able to ski down well enough and I drove him to a hospital.

I have the avalung, it's built into my ski pack, spose' to buy you a minute or two I guess. I put it in my mouth once when skiing out a couloir in Glacier National Park.