Video: Doug Latimer and Jordy Shepherd demonstrate the strike team conveyor shovelling method.
Rescue digging refers to the digging and extrication phase of an avalanche rescue. Digging for a person buried in avalanche debris is physically demanding and often takes longer than the search, so an efficient approach to recovering a burial subject is an important means of maximizing the chances of a positive outcome.
The strike team method is a systematic rescue digging technique for multiple shovelers and one of the best approaches for rescue digging. To employ this technique:
- Shovelers line up behind one another downhill of the probe, spaced out a shovel-length apart (about 80 cm).
- First, each digger shovels down, moving snow to the side until they’ve dug out a trench about a shovel-blade deep.
- Shovelers then move snow back to the next person in line, who clears it out behind them.
- Shovelers rotate positions periodically to ensure the digger at the front doesn’t become too tired.
Once the head is reached, one rescuer administers first aid while the additional diggers remove snow from around the subject’s body and prepare a ramp for extrication.
Photo: People practice rescue digging in an AST 1 course. By Brent Strand.