Wilderness Field Training Improves Safety For Utility Technicians Working In Remote Locations

By Jim McMahon

Let us say you are a field engineer en route to perform maintenance on a microwave station in a remote area of the central Sierra Nevada mountains. It is late-December, there is a light dusting of snow on the one-lane, hardly-paved Kaiser Pass Road, as you and your support tech slowly ascend your way up the mountain. Starting at the 7,000 foot elevation at Huntington Lake, your 4X4 is hugging the granite cliffs as you snake your way around boulders, conifers and ditches, up the ten-percent grade toward the 9,200-foot elevation White Bark cutoff at the top of Kaiser Pass. The first heavy snows have not yet hit the region, but the mountain road in the Sierra National Forest was officially closed for the onset of winter four weeks earlier. After traveling seven miles up the road you reach the crest of Kaiser Pass, and take the White Bark Forest Service dirt road to you destination two miles further in, where the microwave equipment is stationed.

The temperature at the top is a brisk 24 degrees F with a 32 mph wind, overcast skies and snow flurries. But as is typical in the high Sierras, weather can change quickly and unexpectedly. After a couple of hours the winds pick up to 60 mph, storm clouds thicken, snow squalls prevail, and all of a sudden you find yourself in a full-scale white-out, blizzard conditions that show no signs of letting up. Your one road out is now inaccessible to your 4X4, extremely dangerous even with chains, and visibility is almost down to zero with snow accumulating an inch per hour. You face the fact that unless a snowcat can be brought up there to get you out, you may be spending the night. But are you prepared to weather these extreme cold conditions? Have you been properly field-trained in wilderness survival adequately to make it through the night without frostbite or hypothermia setting in?

Field technicians working for power, telecommunications, water and transportation providers are challenged by similar extreme weather conditions throughout many areas of the country. Danger does not limit itself to cold weather climates. Extremes in heat, such as in our southwest deserts or the southern states across the country, can be equally life threatening. Regardless of which extremes you face, the remoteness of the location only magnifies the danger level.

Classroom "Wilderness" Training
An increased guarantee of survival in such harsh conditions can be achieved through training. But to many companies, the extent of their safety training consists merely of a two- to four-hour indoor seminar every two to three years, and sometimes includes a little parking lot training. Students get a lot of theory, and might even learn how to operate an ATV or snowcat on flat terrain – limited to how to stop, brake and turn, and maybe receive verbal instruction on how not to flip the machine. But, that is about it as far as the hands-on training goes. Then the techs get their "certification" cards and go on their way, with little increased ability to really survive their next blizzard, operate their equipment in extreme weather or terrain conditions, or properly cope with a bout of altitude sickness, desert dehydration or Grizzly confrontation.

Unfortunately, some companies see this as a way to fulfill a legal or insurance requirement rather than participating in a program that will truly improve the safety of their employees. Classroom-dominated "survival" training, where 80% of the training is conducted in-class, presents a low-budget and time-friendly format for certification, to be sure. But let us be clear here, survival training in the absence of real-world wilderness experience lacks the hands-on, do-it-yourself factor that the student needs. Like our microwave techs on Kaiser Pass, a life-threatening blizzard is not the time to figure out how to survive. That should have been learned before heading into the mountains, so that responses are automatic to whatever conditions are encountered. In a survival situation there is always some confusion present, but knowing how to handle wilderness survival tools should not be part of it.

Wilderness Field Training
Hands-on, real-world training in environments that closely approximate actual severe conditions in the wilderness is the best guarantee of surviving in a remote location.

For example, a really comprehensive and effective winter survival program that would give students a high degree of survival potential might include: cold weather survival tactics; land navigation including use of GPS, maps and compass; first aid; shelter finding and building; fire skills; hypothermia, frostbite and altitude issues (prevention, recognition and treatment); avalanche training; snowcat, snowmobile, ATV and 4X4 training; and training with handling chainsaws and winches. Packed into, say a five-day program, with 20 percent classroom and 80 percent real-world field training, this type of program would produce graduates that could very competently take care of themselves in a remote winter environment.

"There is no substitute for on-site survival training in mountainous and remote locations," says Austin Toole, Emergency Medical Technician operating in the County of Los Angeles, and Sierra Nevada high-altitude wilderness expert. "Weather conditions can change fast in the mountains posing serious challenges that didn't exist an hour before. Downed trees, washed-out roads and trails can present difficult hazards when trying to get around them with ATVs and 4X4s."

"Even the most seasoned mountain hikers get themselves into life threatening situations," Toole explains. "Hypothermia, altitude sickness, snake bites, plant poisoning and broken legs are some of the more common maladies that plague those entering mountain areas. Even a badly sprained ankle can put you into a dangerous situation in the mountains."

"The remoteness of the environment is the real issue," continues Toole. "What does it take to get emergency medical care when you are 30 miles away from the nearest paved road? It takes a team of people to find you and pull you out, and frequently with a helicopter. That can be embarrassing and expensive. The solution is simple, if you are going to spend any amount of time in remote wilderness areas - mountains or deserts - get field-trained ahead of time to survive it when conditions go bad."

Alltel Wireless Field Technicians Train for Harsh Environmental Conditions
Alltel Wireless is one utility that has embraced the concept of hands-on wilderness field training for its site technicians in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, who frequently need to perform maintenance on their equipment in remote and mountainous regions.

Alltel Wireless owns and operates the nation's largest wireless network, serving more than 12 million customers across the country and generating $8 billion in annual revenues.

"Winter survival becomes a significant issue for us," says Doug Fouch, with Alltel. "It is not unusual for us to have to send in a team of techs on snowmobiles, 20 miles into Yellowstone National Park, in the dead of winter to service our cell towers. Mountaintop towers provide our most extreme site issues. This is a harsh environment, to say the least. The snow pack can be 20 feet deep, with temperatures sub-zero. Cold-weather survival skills, snowmobile handling, navigational training with GPS, and avalanche training become an absolute necessity. This is not an environment where you want to come ill-equipped."

"We have tried a number of wilderness training programs, but settled with Northwest School of Survival (www.nwsos.com) for our wilderness training," Fouch continues. "We have trained with them for years, and have found their program to be the most comprehensive and flexible for our specific needs."

Northwest School of Survival provides a unique customized program for its utility and corporate clients, integrating varying elements of skill-sets to ensure multiple facets of training are covered. Training can be completely custom tailored to meet each company's specific requirements. Its programs are heavy on real-world field training to maximize the learning experience, and extensively span harsh-environment scenarios.

Northwest's program not only includes extensive training, but also assists its clients to evaluate their wilderness safety risks, and develop safety protocol and standards. Such actions help establish rescue preplanning and procedures, survival kits, first aid kits, clothing, footwear, and equipment evaluations and recommendations.

"Even bear safety is an issue for us," explains Fouch. "How many other telecommunications field technicians in the United States have to deal with Grizzly bears? Not many. But we frequently come upon Grizzly's in their habitat, and it is a good skill to know how to deal with them correctly, seeing as how we have to co-habitat with them while we are servicing our equipment. This is part of our survival training too."

Northwest's customized training approach also ensures that new Alltel team members, who require specific training, get it when and where needed, rather than waiting for an "open-enrollment" course to be offered. Northwest also can bring the training on-site to Alltel's desired locations whenever and wherever needed.

"Our instructors are the most experienced in the industry," says Brian Wheeler, President of Northwest School of Survival. "We are not afraid to put our clients into remote, environmental situations that will be similar to what they will actually face on a daily basis. If it is 50 below zero and white-out conditions, we still train. It is extreme, and it can make training a challenge, but this is our client's real-world scenario. Whether it is the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado or any other location that faces extremes in terrain and weather, our instructors know exactly what they are doing. It is not theory, they are pros in their respective fields when it comes to real-world applications, with many years of experience. They know how to impart the critical knowledge and skills that field techs need to deal with any environmental situation."

"Companies train because their employees are at risk," Wheeler explains. "If a company's employees work in remote wilderness conditions, they could be at risk 80 percent of the time. Even if a company has never had a remote location incident, it is better for them to maintain a pro-active stance towards training that actually mimics their specific work applications, rather than fall prey to a reactive position after someone has sustained injuries or died on the job. Our challenge is to reduce that risk for them as much as possible."

About Northwest School of Survival
Northwest School of Survival - For the past 23 years, NWSOS has provided basic to advanced training in varied specialties for some of the largest companies in the world, as well as the United States military (Including its various branches, special forces, elite units, SERE instructors, and other active/reserve teams), law enforcement personnel, state and federal government agencies, search and rescue teams, and the general public.

NWSOS provides the highest level of real-world wilderness survival training available anywhere, offering its programs year-round in varying climates and terrain conditions.

Operating from its base at Mt. Hood, Oregon, it delivers customized training programs for its clients on location anywhere in the United States and internationally, for just about any survival or safety application. Its curriculum is the most hands-on and reality-based program available, and its trainers are among the most experienced in the world, possessing the understanding and skills needed to successfully train its students for the most life-threatening wilderness survival conditions.

For more information on Northwest School of Survival, contact Brian Wheeler, President/Founder; 2870 NE Hogan Rd., E-461, Gresham, or visit www.nwsos.com.

SOURCE: Northwest School of Survival