Against the Ropes Training and personal challenges in adventure work Dr. Emily Roback practises her rope skills at the Red Deer Search and Rescue Headquarters Training Centre. T Dr. Emily Roback, president of Chi- roback Trekker,provides chiropractic, sports therapy and injury prevention seminars for search-and-rescue teams in Alberta.Dr.Roback can be contacted at [email protected] and/or 403-872-1599. he frustrating reality of rope and air rescue is the failure of those in charge to communicate effectively with health professional volunteers who are expressing an interest in serving patients. Inexperienced and untrained rescue volunteers from the health professions – however well intentioned – are often not able to operate at their optimum level, as an effective support team with others who are learning to become rescuers. The immediate needs of rescue training often relate to communication and back safety issues. Chiropractic services are usually competently provided in collaboration with, or as part of a structured rescue response team. Volunteer chiropractors are most successful during the aftermath of a ground and air search, provided they arrive on the scene as part of a prearranged response team and have already been trained in wilderness medicine, rope rescue, spotting, and navigation. RESCUE TRAINING – KNOT FOR THE UNPREPARED! According to Apps (2004) “adventure [work] is increasing and some participants will inevitably develop musculoskeletal problems.”(1) This is especially true in rescue train- ing programs. The rope rescue course in Red Deer, Alberta, which is operated by Red Deer Search-and-Rescue Technical Team, runs the only rope training course in central Alberta. Military personnel and professional climbers instruct two- to three-day week- end courses. Trainees spend fi ve to six days tying knots, rappelling, and pulling heavy sledges from the ground to the top of a four-storey building, while working in extreme sub-zero conditions. The Canadian Air Search and Rescue Association, a group of air res- cue pilots in Red Deer County, run their navigation and spotter courses throughout the year. For trainees who have acquired their CPR and/or First Aid Certifi cates, a wilderness medicine course is offered. There are no minimum prerequisites for trainees who must be able to pull or lift the 20 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | APRIL 2008 www.canadianchiropractor.ca Emily Roback, BSc, DC feature Photos by Rick Henderson
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