A 13-year-old girl on a field trip was caught in a chairlift by her clothing, and is now fighting for her life in a hospital.
This past Wednesday, February 11, a school took their students on a ski trip to Centre Vorlage in Wakefield, Quebec, Canada. Following a day of skiing, a tragedy ensued at 2 p.m. as one of the students got tangled in a chairlift while dismounting.
The MRC des Collines Sgt. Martin Fournel reported to The Low Down that mountain and field trip staff were trying to help the girl as she was hanging from the lift, but the lift failed to stop and she was quickly out of reach. As the chair passed the offloading zone, the girl was lifted into the air when the chair soon circled the terminal and began its descent.
With the girl out of reach the staff on scene opted to continue the chairlift and offload the girl at the base where a police officer was waiting, believing it was the best tactic in the given circumstances. By the time she was dismounted and untangled she had entered cardiac arrest. Police and two doctors skiing on-hill that day then began CPR.
According to Fournel, police believe that the girl was hanging in a way that obstructed her breathing, leading to cardiac arrest.
Emergency medical teams, including paramedics were called at 2:10 p.m. Upon arrival, EMT’s and paramedics were brought to the scene by mountain staff via snowmobile. The patient was then extracted from the scene on a toboggan that was pulled by a snowmobile, back to the ambulance. The ambulance departed from the mountain en route to the Wakefield hospital at 2:40 p.m.
According to Fournel, by this point “the person was not breathing, but they were able to revive her in Wakefield [and she] got rushed to CHEO right after.”
While breathing, she remains in critical condition, and is being cared for by the medical staff in the intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. No further information is available at this time to protect the patient and her families privacy, including her name and school.
Following the incident at Centre Vorlage, psychological and emotional support workers were at the mountain to console the affected witnesses and workers. This tragedy was witnessed by other students, teachers, bystanders, as well as those working amid the chaos.
Later in the afternoon, an investigation into the incident began with MRC police investigators on scene. In this investigation the police will be joined by the Quebec building authority beginning on February 12 to construct a complete report.
Centre Vorlage closed following this incident. They will cooperate with the ongoing investigation and remain closed until further notice. They have given their condolences to all those impacted by this tragedy on facebook, saying, “Our most sincere thoughts are with the family during this difficult time, and we extend to them our deepest compassion.”