International Commission for Alpine Rescue

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ICAR Logo

The International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) is an international association of mountain rescue organization. Founded in 1948, ICAR is headquartered in Kloten, Switzerland.

ICAR currently has 85 member organizations in 34 countries. The official ICAR languages are English, German and French.

Structure[]

The top organizational body is the ICAR Assembly of Delegates, where member organizations are represented by delegates (number of delegates depending on the type of membership). The Assembly usually meets in October upon the annual ICAR Convention. The Convention is alternately organized by different member organizations.

The Assembly appoints members for the ICAR Executive Board (President, Vice-President, Treasury, Technical Commission Presidents and Assessors, all of them volunteers), which takes care of the daily business through the year.

For administrative tasks (correspondence, web-mastering) there is an ICAR Office, staffed 12 hours weekly, located at Zurich Airport in Switzerland. The office is, financed in equal parts by ICAR and by the member ARS Alpine Rettung Schweiz (Alpine rescue Switzerland), hosting it.

ICAR has four Technical Commissions, which develop and publish the recommendations which are published on the ICAR website. Together these commissions cover all aspects of mountain rescue:

Terrestrial Rescue Commission[]

The Terrestrial Rescue Commission is concerned with all aspects of technical ground search and rescue techniques, particularly in mountainous environments. Terrestrial rescue is essentially a transportation issue, getting patients from a place of predicament to a place of care. There is a broad array of terrain types and conditions to which rescue teams respond, and consequently the technical systems are varied and diverse. Our main task is providing an environment whereby the collective international knowledge, experience, and methodology can be shared.

The Commission meets annually and has an elected president and vice-president. A key theme or topic is chosen annually whereby an exchange of information, presentations, demonstrations and experiences occurs. Where there is interest in further examination of topics, a working group made up of volunteer delegates is formed and the findings are presented to the commission. This work may lead to consensus based recommendations.

The Commission also has overlap with the ICAR Avalanche Rescue Commission where there is common interest, such as avalanche rescue techniques and systems, and a portion of the meetings are held jointly. Additionally, the Terrestrial Rescue Commission and the ICAR Avalanche Rescue Commission alternately organize a practical field demonstration day prior to the annual conference, open to all commissions. Evacuation of subjects often occurs by helicopter once ground-based rescuers have accessed and stabilized the subject for transport. As such, there are also common cross-over challenges between terrestrial rescue, air rescue and medical aspects. For that an ICAR process is in place, whereby the respective commissions can jointly work on these challenges.

Air Rescue Commission[]

The Air Rescue Commission consists of experts, pilots, HEMS crew members and hoist operators from all ICAR member organizations. The commission is run by a president assisted by a vice-president. The Commission President is a member of he Executive Board. Usually the Air Rescue Commission meets once a year during the annual ICAR Convention.

The Commission has to deal with different systems, different rules, different operations and therefore the commission is used to work on best practices more than hard rules. The Commission takes its benefits from the exchange of the members and other international entities. The database of the commission is one of the largest in the world concerning Mountain Air Rescue. The Commission publishes recommendations available to all via the ICAR website.

The Commission and the EHA European Helicopter Association have worked together to obtain an alleviation for the rescuers during the EASA PCDS (Personal Carrying Device System) consultation. Thanks to the cooperation the success was confirmed in May 2016 with the withdrawal of the regulation on single PCDS.

Avalanche Rescue Commission[]

A main task of the Avalanche Rescue Commission is to issue recommendations on safety measures to minimize avalanche accidents. Securing the equipment compatibility of avalanche search devices is another focus. Furthermore, the Commission played a dominant role in the unification of the European avalanche danger scale. Currently, these efforts are extended to harmonize the European avalanche danger scale with the North American systems.

The Commission also provides information on avalanche accidents. There are two technical sub-commissions within the Commission: Dog-Handlers and Prevention.

ICAR Alpine Emergency Medicine Commission[]

The International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR MEDCOM) was founded in 1948 is a sub-commission of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue. More than 60 emergency physicians and paramedics, experienced in pre-hospital treatment of injuries and illnesses in the mountains are members of MEDCOM.

MEDCOM recommendations are published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals . All papers are intended for emergency physicians, paramedics, first responders and authorities responsible in organizing rescue operation in the mountains. Moreover, joint recommendations for mountaineers are worked out in collaboration with the Medical Commission of UIAA (International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation), the ISMM (International Society for Mountain Medicine) and the WMS (Wilderness Medical Society). Together with these organizations MEDCOM conducts the World Congress in Mountain and Emergency Medicine.

MEDCOM is also involved in education and training of mountain rescuers and physicians in countries with efforts of establishing a system of local rescue groups and a demand of knowledge and training. MEDCOM has supported courses in Argentina (2005) and Nepal (2009) with human and financial resources.

In cooperation with UIAA and ISMM, MEDCOM has established the "Diploma for Mountain Medicine" and the "Diploma for Mountain Emergency Medicine" in order to standardize postgraduate medical training for physicians interested and/or involved in mountain medicine and rescue medicine in mountainous areas.

MEDCOMmeets twice a year at the spring meeting (on invitation of our members) and at the Assembly where we present our work to the other commissions. . There is also a close cooperation with the “Institute for Mountain Emergency Medicine” at the European Academy (EURAC) in Bolzano, Italy and other research facilities and universities. ^[1]

References[]

External links[]

• International Commission for Alpine Rescue