Safety Equipment Usage & Risk Management Flashcards
7 cards from real ASC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Safety Equipment Usage & Risk Management flashcards as text
When searching for a buried victim with an avalanche transceiver in search mode, what is the correct initial action after switching to receive?
Answer: Move quickly across the debris field in a systematic grid pattern to acquire a signal
The first step in a transceiver search is to move rapidly across the debris in a strategic pattern to acquire the signal, then follow signal strength to narrow the location.
Which airbag backpack deployment trigger type allows the user to activate the bag with either hand?
Answer: Ambidextrous pull handle
Ambidextrous pull handles allow the rider to deploy the airbag with either the right or left hand, improving usability in chaotic avalanche conditions.
What is the recommended minimum probe length for avalanche rescue according to most North American safety guidelines?
Answer: 2.4 meters (8 feet)
Most North American guidelines recommend a minimum probe length of 240 cm (about 8 feet) to reach victims buried at typical depths.
During an avalanche airbag deployment, the inflated bag is designed to keep the wearer near the surface through which principle?
Answer: Inverse segregation, where larger objects rise during granular flow
Avalanche airbags exploit inverse segregation (the 'Brazil nut effect'), causing larger objects to migrate toward the surface during the turbulent granular flow of an avalanche.
What is the primary risk of relying solely on a helmet for avalanche safety?
Answer: A helmet protects against trauma but does not help survival from burial or asphyxiation
While helmets reduce head trauma risk, they do not address the primary avalanche mortality cause—asphyxiation from burial—making a transceiver, probe, and shovel essential.
When performing a fine search with a transceiver, what technique is used to pinpoint the burial location?
Answer: Use a cross-pattern bracket search to find the signal minimum, then mark the point
The bracketing cross technique—moving the transceiver along perpendicular lines to find the signal minimum—pinpoints the burial location before probing.
What does a red LED or alarm on a modern avalanche transceiver most commonly indicate during group travel?
Answer: Another group member's transceiver is in receive mode instead of transmit
Many modern transceivers alert the user when they detect a nearby transceiver in search/receive mode, signaling that a group member may have forgotten to switch to transmit.