It’s That Time of Year

by | Sep 14, 2024 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles

It’s that time of year when the temperatures start to cool, leaves start to change, and there’s pumpkin spice everything. That means it’s time to start thinking about Ski Patrol training. Have you started to think about your OET training opportunities? There are training events everywhere – at your home area, in your region, and at the division level.

Where do you find these fun events? Patrollerschool.org has links to events in each region and in the division. As a local patroller, look for Ski Enhancement and Toboggan Enhancement Seminars. These are training events where you can refresh your skills, learn new techniques, and challenge yourself.

The next step is the Senior Program. This training fine tunes your skiing and toboggan handling skills in the “more” or “most” difficult terrain. This allows you to train with patrollers from other ski areas in your region. Challenge yourself to ski on new terrain, meet new people, and better your skills.

Following are the goals of the Senior Patroller Outdoor Emergency Transportation program:

  • To provide a training and evaluation environment which encourages all Patrollers to participate.
  • To expand and improve the NSP member’s patrolling knowledge and skills through a national program of training and evaluation.
  • To provide NSP members with the opportunity to obtain quality upper-level training.
  • To improve the image of Patrollers and the National Ski Patrol.
  • To provide a method for members to obtain personal improvement and achievement through definable goals.
  • To prepare patrollers for leadership positions in the National Ski Patrol.

In order to apply, you must get the recommendation of your patrol director and contact your region OET administrator. Encourage a friend to apply with you!

Young adult patrollers have the same training opportunities as adult patrollers and have additional YAP specific training events available. There is an annual YAP summit in the spring for patrollers throughout the division. Are you a YAP or do you have YAPs at your area or region? Talk to your region’s YAP advisor about events scheduled in the region. YAPs are encouraged to participate in the division OET events at patroller schools. This is an opportunity to ski at new areas, meet new patrollers, learn something new, and HAVE FUN!

Check patrollerschool.org for locations and registration information. Also check out the YAP link on the division website for all information regarding the Eastern Division YAP program.

Senior OEC MSP Updated and Reinvented

by | Feb 16, 2024 | Program News, Spotlight Articles

The Outdoor Emergency Care Module of the Senior Program (OECMSP) has been updated and reinvented to reflect more of a training program that provides growth in the area of Leadership, Decision Making, and Problem Management (LDP). Once you have demonstrated mastery in your OEC skills, the patroller moves on to clinics that will focus on the objectives of LDP. The scenarios you will work with are designed to help focus your growth, and more concise problem-solving leading to quicker decision-making and better leadership. Each clinic should leave you with a feeling of accomplishment and something to focus your growth on. In addition to mastery of the OEC skills, there are requirements for breaking down written scenarios to identify problems and potential solutions as well as writing a scenario with LDP as the challenge as well as OEC.

During your training clinic sessions, you will need to pass four on-snow scenarios as a prerequisite to attend your evaluation day. These scenarios should prepare you well for the final evaluation and come from a set of scenarios that are challenging and score the same as the scenarios you will see during the final evaluation.

Trainer Evaluators are also adding additional training so they focus more on the LDP aspect of the OECMSP and how to better train candidates on what to expect and then evaluate them with a focus on LDP.

Evaluation day may look different as well. All candidates participating in the final evaluation will decide on whether to have a non-scoring warm-up scenario, or some other warm-up activity, or move directly into the final evaluations. During the final evaluation process, you will only have two scenarios to complete successfully. Since the new OECMSP program is more focused on training, if you are not successful on one scenario you will have the opportunity to train or review what didn’t work well in the failed scenario and the opportunity to redo on that day or a date in the future that is agreeable to all.

The big difference here is that prior to continuing, the program is designed to provide you with the opportunity to train and reach a level of comfort before you go into your next evaluation. Not being successful in one scenario allows you to complete your redo in the same season. Not being successful in two scenarios means you go back into the training program with practice scenarios and go through that process again until you are comfortable. In most cases that takes more than one season. For Patrollers, Alpine Patrollers, and Nordic Patrollers this evaluation continues to be under the conditions which you patrol which requires an on-snow final evaluation experience.

Other updates to the program provide the logistics to run this program to be trimmed down and need a smaller number of personnel to run an event.

Bottom line is the principle and practice that the OECMSP has moved to become a more flexible training program that enhances the patroller’s personal growth in the areas of Leadership, Decision Making, and Problem Management. The program will support ski areas with better scenario and OEC management from trained patrollers as well as help these same patrollers become leaders within NSP in the future.

If you have any questions or would like a deeper look please feel free to reach out to the Eastern Division OEC Supervisor, any of the Asst. OEC Supervisors or paulaknightnsp@gmail.com .