COVID In Steamboat: Partnership Between Ski Patrol, ER Doctors Essential During Coronavirus
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo (CBS4)- Ski patrollers have added burdens this season when it comes to safety during the pandemic. For one resort, a unique, long-time partnership with its local hospital has proven more essential than ever.
"We've always been in good contact, especially for more serious events, and now with COVID, that phone call for us is very important," said Wes Richey, Interim Patrol at Steamboat Ski Resort.
Steamboat Resort and the emergency department at the Yampa Valley Medical Center have had the partnership for more than 40 years, but this year, doctors in the emergency department have played a critical role in keeping patrollers and guests safe.
"They put an algorithm together for us to go step by step," Richey said. "Everything that we do, you know, starts with the COVID questions, 'do you suspect that you've have COVID? A sore throat?' All that stuff before we do anything. That's where that algorithm starts."
Training between patrollers and hospital staff occurs annually, and while it's had to evolve due to the pandemic, the level of care and communication hasn't changed.
"You know, they monitor our radio down there, but they're just a phone call away for us if we have any questions," said Richey.
The level three trauma center is just a two-minute drive from Steamboat Resort, and for non-critical patients, it provides low-cost transportation directly to the hospital.
"I don't know what we'd be like without it. It'd be much more problematic in terms of transportation, specifically transportation," said Richey.
The crowds on the hill Wednesday were minimal, but Richey expects things will pick up soon.
"It's still early in the season, we're expecting bigger crowds and we're gonna be challenged by it for sure," he said.
Fortunately, the emergency department at the Yampa Valley Medical Center is finishing up a timely renovation made with skiers in mind.
"Part of our current $10 million renovation for our emergency department, sort of revolves around taking care of skiers. We have large rooms to take care of their gear, places to store it.," said Dr. David Cionni, an emergency medicine physician. "We've actually developed a program where we have physical therapy within the department that helps us with patients who might have an injury that doesn't necessarily need admission to the hospital."
Cionni has watched the relationship with patrollers evolve over his 26 years at the hospital, and says pandemic or not, they're more than equipped to keep skiers safe from the mountain to the emergency department.
"The system that we developed has allowed us to honestly save multiple lives that would not have been otherwise," he said.
"We're fortunate there's just no other way we can say it, we're fortunate to have it," said Richey.
Routt County is one of the places in the state with ultra-cold storage for the first round of COVID-19 vaccines. While it's unclear if ski patrollers will be given vaccinations with the first round, the Yampa Valley Medical Center says it considers them a critical part of its first responder team.
