5
/
HANDLING DURING AVALANCHE INCIDENT
5.1 ACTIVATION
•
Activate the ABS® Avalanche Airbag without
hesitation as soon as you become aware of
an avalanche. It is better to activate once too
often than not at all.
•
a To activate pull hard and fast on the
activation handle and try to escape. The
airbags
are
self inflating, independent of whether you are
skiing, are falling, are lying on top of the
airbag or are already captured by the moving
snow.
The
inflated
airbags
will
not
compromise
your
possible
escape
or
avoidance of rocks etc., which you should
always try to do.
5.2
HANDLING YOURSELF DURING THE
AVALANCHE
•
Once you have activated, only concentrate
on your fall line. The way that the airbags are
attached on the sides of the pack allows you
to freely move your arms. Fight by swimming
and pushing away obstacles. Try to steady
yourself and protect your head. The shape of
the airbags will help to protect your head
without compromising your movements and
ability to see. Try to twist out of your ski
bindings. Never put your hands through the
pole straps and never use safety straps with
your bindings. If possible, keep your mouth
closed.
•
When the avalanche is coming to a halt, try
to keep your upper body and arms above
the snow and free yourself from the
avalanche as soon as possible.
•
5.3 AFTER THE AVALANCHE
•
Find a safe place. Try to help other victims
if possible. Only deflate the airbags when
there is absolute certain-ty that there is no
longer any danger of avalanches and
attach another cartridge and activation
handle immediately if possible. In case you
are still in an avalanche prone area, leave
the airbags inflated.
•
5.4
INTERNATIONAL
AVALANCHE
ACCIDENT DATABASE
•
Please report any practical use of your
ABS® avalanche airbag. The findings of all
examples of practical use across the globe
are collected by the Österreichisches
Kuratorium für Alpine Sicherheit (Austrian
Alpine Safety Board)
•
and are especially important for research
and development. You can find all the key
information on our website www.abs-
airbag. com.
•
Please fill out the online form in full and
also send the information regarding your
avalanche accident to your ABS® Service
Centre when you send your backpack for
inspection.
•
.
•
With the ABS® Avalanche Airbag you have
purchased a device based on many years
of experience in avalanche research,
rescue and statistics. Led by the one out-
standing
fact,
that
a predominant number of all avalanche
victims (skiers and snowboarders) are still
alive when the avalanche comes to a halt.
However, most of them are buried, are
unable to free themselves and are often
not visible to the rescuer.
•
And this is where the race with death
begins and is lost by those victims, who
are totally buried and have blocked
airways.
•
The main obstacle for a successful rescue
is when the burial depth is one meter or
more. Often the time it takes to shovel
these victims out of such depths of snow
exceeds their survival time. Therefore, it is
vital to prevent a burial as well as possible.
•
One pull of the activation handle and within
seconds the ABS® Avalanche Airbag
provides the physical prerequisites for this
to happen.
•
The moving snow flushes large volume
objects to the surface. If these objects
have a smaller dimensional weight than
the surrounding snow, they will stay at the
surface. The additional airbag volume of
150 litres helps that you will stay on top of
the moving snow. The weight, shape as
well as the attachment of the airbags, also
contribute to this. A large surface area
combined with a flexible attachment that
fits close to the body convert the flow force
into buoyancy. The ABS® Avalanche
Airbag System has already prevented
hundreds of snow enthusiasts from being
buried.
6
/
HOW ABS WORKS
41
40
