Avalanche Commission Minutes from Congress 2024

This past year, the AVA Commission met virtually almost every month to collaborate, work on recommendations, and plan for the future. Many of our recommendations have become outdated, and we have a significant amount of work ahead to update them and ensure they remain relevant to rescue teams worldwide. During the congress Assembly of Delegates, we were able to unanimously pass an important update to Recommendation L002, which had not been revised since 1998. 

Practical Day:
This year, we partnered with MED COM and TER COM to host morning stations, covering a range of topics, including:

• Teaching Avalanche Intervention through an interactive case report
• Hypothermia in Avalanche and CPR with BLS
• Manual and Mechanical CPR for Avalanche Victims
• Treewell Scenario
• Avalanche Scenario Triage
• Hypothermia Wrapping Techniques
• Avalanche Probing Strategies
• Psychological First Aid Scenarios
• Phases of an Avalanche Search

In the afternoon, we teamed up with MED COM and DOG COM to host the first-ever ICAR Olympics. It was a fantastic event, full of fun,connection and key learning moments and I’ve included a few photos for you to enjoy.

Throughout the rest of the congress, the AVA Commission had the opportunity to attend insightful presentations, collaborate with a few other commissions, and take some time to discuss our next steps.

Here is the link to the presentation at ICAR AVA Commission. 

During our final session, the AVA Commission outlined both our short-term and long-term goals.

Our overarching vision is to be the global leader in avalanche rescue while maintaining an innovative approach within ICAR. As a commission, we will excel in discussing complex topics with mutual respect, and we are committed to honoring cultural differences while ensuring every voice is heard.

Short-Term Goals:

• Review the AVA recommendation process and assess the needs of our members within those recommendations
• Create standard processes for information sharing
• Revise the accident by country Reports to better serve the needs of our membership
• Strengthen relationships with partner organizations and knowledge base experts
• Design AVA Commission hats and/or T-shirts to complement our new stickers – we are proud AVA COM members!

Long-Term Goals:

• Develop or collaborate on an avalanche accident database, including near misses
• Create a repository for best practices in rescue to be shared among teams

Thank you to all the delegates, manufacturers and experts who help make the AVA Commission a great place.  Looking forward to working with you all in this next year.

Stephanie Thomas
Avalanche Commission, President