Eagle Mountain Cliffhanger by Cindi Myers

Author:Cindi Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-07-31T15:08:53+00:00

* * *

SUNDAY MORNING, the SAR team assembled in the parking area near Galloway Basin, a popular backcountry skiing area, for field training. A storm had moved in during the night and it was still snowing when they arrived, with occasional gusts of wind sending the snow swirling around them or blowing hard pellets of ice straight at them. “Did you order this weather just for us?” Ted asked Tony as they gathered in front of their parked vehicles.

“It’s perfect weather for our training today,” Tony said. “The topic is winter wilderness first aid. We’re going to be practicing assessment and treatment, with an emphasis on some problems particular to winter, such as hypothermia and frostbite, as well as practice some techniques for transport over snow and ice. Ah, and we have a new volunteer with us today.”

The others turned to see Jake striding toward them. “Hello.” He nodded to the group in general, and smiled when his gaze locked with Hannah’s.

“Deputy Gwynn asked to join our training today, as he thought it might be useful in his work as a deputy,” Tony said.

“Please, call me Jake.”

“All right, Jake,” Tony said. “I assume you’re certified in basic first aid and CPR.”

“Yes, sir,” Jake said.

“Then you can start us out with that section of the training. Austen, get our Resusci Anne out here.”

Austen hauled the CPR dummy dressed in the bright Hawaiian shirt out of the back of Tony’s SUV and arranged her on the packed snow in front of the parking area. “We’ll start with solo CPR,” Tony said.

Jake knelt in front of the dummy and went through the protocol of checking for a pulse, opening the airway and beginning chest compressions. Above him, Tony talked about the procedure. “Jake is doing the standard of thirty chest compressions and two rescue breaths. Ideally, he would continue to do this until help arrived. In the real world, we know that help could take an hour or more to get to him.” He consulted the stopwatch in his hand. “You’re at one minute, Jake.”

Jake nodded and continued. He was breathing hard now, but kept going.

“If we’re on a call as a team, we don’t have to depend on one person to administer CPR,” Tony said. “Someone starts, and someone else takes over when the first rescuer begins to fatigue. You’d probably have a pair trading off performing chest compressions and rescue breathing.” He studied the stopwatch and after a long interval—during which the sound of Jake’s efforts were loud in the snowy silence—Tony called, “Okay, you can stop now, Jake.”

Jake sat back, panting. “What did you notice about this exercise?” Tony asked.

“I’m pretty winded,” Jake said.

“We’re at eleven thousand feet here,” Tony said. “Less oxygen and even for someone in good physical condition, CPR is strenuous. Not only are you winded, but what you probably didn’t notice was that your chest compressions were not going as deep as they need to in order to be most effective. A 2014 study in the

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