"Starting off the year at the limit"
Dr. Axel Mann looks back
Axel Mann, former medical director at Air Zermatt, spent 38 years devoting his knowledge and skills to the helicopter company. Throughout this time, the doctor collected dozens of exciting, funny and sad stories, some of which we want to share with you. Here’s a little insight into the eventful and highly varied everyday life of the rescue crew.
We took a look back at Axel Mann’s life, and want to recount some of his most formative experiences. Many of these moments not only influenced Axel’s career path as a specialist in anesthesia/intensive care, but also revolutionized operations at Air Zermatt itself.
During his time at Air Zermatt, Axel Mann has seen many a day that can be hard for even the most experienced medical specialist – and one such event occurred around New Year’s Day a few years ago. In addition to numerous accidents on the slopes with minor to moderate injuries, a call came in about a skier who had been involved in an accident. The 17-year-old was stuck in an extremely awkward position between the slope and the safety net. Axel Mann, who was already on a helicopter mission, was winched directly to the accident site, where he found the boy huddled in a fetal position. He was unconscious and not getting enough oxygen due to obstruction of the airways and severe brain trauma, which meant that time was of the essence: “We can survive for three weeks without food and three days without water, but only three minutes without oxygen before serious damage is done,” explains Dr. Mann.
In moments like these there’s no time to lose, and action must be taken within seconds: “I was alone at the scene, and first I intubated the patient.” When the helicopter arrived with reinforcement, the decision was made to anesthetize the boy, before taking him to Inselspital Bern.
“It's a black box you'd rather keep closed.”
While on the way, Axel already got the next radio call from the owner of the Blatten restaurant, reporting that a 40-year-old man, also on the slopes, had crashed into a block of ice. The anesthetist saw the severity of the accident immediately on arrival – the face, especially the jawline and mouth, were deformed and the man was also suffering a severe craniocerebral trauma, but was still semi-conscious. Later on it was realized that he was also suffering massive abdominal bleeding. In order to simplify the subsequent procedure, i.e. intubation (artificial respiration) and efforts to control the bleeding, for example, the patient was immediately placed in an induced coma. Bone splinters inside the mouth made access for artificial respiration difficult, however. After a stopover at the heliport, where the rescue crew was able to provide first aid in a secure environment and with the necessary equipment, the helicopter then flew on to the Inselspital in Bern.
Dr. Axel Mann during a winch operation a few years ago.
Both patients survived these serious accidents. “As far as I know, the 17-year-old is fine today and didn’t suffer any consequences from the interrupted oxygen supply.” For the second casualty, the accident resulted in a procedure lasting several weeks. Multiple operations to restore the skull and jaw, as well as the fastest possible treatment of numerous internal injuries, helped to ensure that the patient is fit and well today, as Axel explains: “He invited us for a meal last autumn – a special and enjoyable occasion.”
It’s not often you meet your patients a second time, and not only because of distance or a lack of time: “Processing such an event often involves trauma that requires therapy in itself. It’s not surprising that many are reluctant to return to the area or the people they associate with the event,” explains the doctor. “It’s a black box you’d rather keep closed.”
Days like these show how important first aid is in an emergency situation. As a general rule, oxygen supply always has top priority, and only then do you focus on freeing the patient or treating other injuries.
But how does he himself process days like these with all their stress, intense activity and tragedy? “You definitely need a thick skin, and with time you also get used to the really bad situations, which are part of life at Air Zermatt.” Contact with crew and colleagues helps enormously when it comes to looking back over the day, finding perspective and then letting go. By the time you sit down to dinner with your family, you just have to make sure that the day’s events are left behind you.”