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In the bloodwagon


Reporter: Elizabeth Moore

It’s possible that not every SCoM member has experienced being stretchered off the mountain after injury. I seem to be making a habit of it — three times now — on SCoM holidays in Fernie, St Christoph and now Sauce doula. Fortunately in none of these cases was I in severe pain, though I managed to do fairly serious damage to my knee (& fibula & ribs) in St Christoph. Anyway, for those who have managed to avoid this, here’s a note of what happened this time.

I fell over getting off the chairlift on the way back from Sestriere, when we all got pushed sideways, and fell awkwardly, spraining my bad knee. As this was fortunately right where the piste patrollers had their base, they rushed over to help me straight away. Could I ski? No. So, the options were: being taken down the mountain in a skidoo, without medical attention, €50; or being taken to the medical centre for a check-up, €250. I chose the latter. They asked for my lift pass and put a sticker on it (not sure what that was about). Had I taken out the local ski insurance (‘Vialattea Sci Noproblem’) it would have been straightforward and all covered (no problem), but as I hadn’t, it was definitely pay-as-you-go, credit card at the ready.

My knee was stablised and I was zipped into the bloodwagon toboggan thing, all cosy inside a waterproof cover. This was then taken down (headfirst) by two snowploughing piste patrollers, one in front and one behind, to Sportinia. There I was transferred onto a stretcher, which was then put onto a metal platform box thing that sat across the four chairs on the chairlift, with the piste patroller sitting on a little seat at the side. On the way down we chatted in a mixture of English and Italian. At the bottom (not sure where we were as I couldn’t see much) an ambulance was waiting, and I was transferred on the stretcher onto a trolley and into the back of the ambulance, which took me to the medical centre at Sauce. There my ski boots & knee brace were taken off and my knee was examined and x-rayed. Everyone was very nice and helpful, and it was a bonus that I could speak a bit of Italian. The knee brace, which I’d got in St Christoph, was much admired. The examination cost another €150, with €130 for the x-ray (no MRI scan available there). The ambulance was €50. Had I needed crutches, I could have bought them for €45. It was also necessary to buy the medication from the pharmacy. The two ambulance paramedics very kindly gave me a lift back to the hotel, with my boots, helmet etc in a bag, which saved me having to get a taxi.

Now I’ve had to make a claim on my travel insurance to cover these costs (about £529); had I taken out the in-resort insurance everything would have been covered. In Sauce it’s necessary to pay for each item separately. This was a contrast to when I injured the same knee in Austria in 2020, where I got taken down to a smart private clinic in luxury resort Lech, was x-rayed & MRI-scanned, and given a top-quality knee brace & crutches, and drugs, and presented with a large bill! (c £2100) I’ll have to pay an excess on the travel insurance claim, so I think that in future the in-resort insurance might be worth getting.

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