Fig. 2

Alpine skiing rescue process and description of terrains. a Winter clothes removal and b cervical collar installation (flat terrain); c preparing logroll to lateral decubitus and d preparing logroll back to supine (steep slope); e preparing to move to vacuum mattress midline and f immobilization on the vacuum mattress (steep slope) (note that head and cervical spine are included in the vacuum mattress immobilization), g preparing transfer to toboggan, h downhill evacuation (steep mogul slope). LD: lateral decubitus, DD: dorsal decubitus, VM: vacuum mattress, MILS: manual in line stabilization, TSI: traumatic spine injury