Internal Medicine department, Clinica Santa Chiara, via Stefano Franscini 4, 6600 Locarno, Switzerland.
Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università degli studi di Messina, Piazza Pugliatti 1, 98122 Messina, Italy.
J Travel Med. 2023 Jun 23;30(4). doi: 10.1093/jtm/taac133.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The number of backcountry skiers and snowboarder surged in the last years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, as ski resorts shut down. Inevitably, this led to an increase in avalanche-related injuries and death. As avalanche rescue device, avalanche airbags are increasingly becoming part of the standard winter mountaineering equipment. This study provides a review of the available data and an updated perspective on avalanche airbags, discussing their function and efficacy to reduce mortality and their limitations.
Causes of death in individuals caught by avalanches are multiple. Airbags seem to reduce mortality by decreasing the chances of critical burial, the most determining risk factor. However, there is a scarcity of reliable scientific research on the topic, and the way in which airbags reduce mortality and to what extent is still debated. Several elements seem to influence airbags efficacy, and their use still yields several limitations linked to manufacturing, proper use, users education and risk compensation.
Avalanche airbags seem to be an important tool in reducing mortality in the backcountry expeditions. However, more research and standardized data collection are needed to fill the knowledge gap, and mountain communities should promote adequate education of winter-recreationists on how to prevent and react to an avalanche and on the correct use of airbags in combination with already available tools such as transceivers, probes and shovels; and manufacturing companies should ensure higher efficacy of the survival avalanche equipment for better prevention of burial, asphyxia and trauma.
背景/目的：近年来，随着滑雪胜地的关闭，越来越多的背包滑雪者和单板滑雪者涌入山区，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行期间。这不可避免地导致了与雪崩相关的受伤和死亡人数增加。作为雪崩救援设备，雪崩气囊越来越成为冬季登山装备的标准配置。本研究综述了现有数据，并对雪崩气囊进行了更新的视角，讨论了其降低死亡率的功能和效果，以及其局限性。
被雪崩掩埋的人死亡的原因是多方面的。气囊似乎通过降低被掩埋的几率，特别是最关键的风险因素，来降低死亡率。然而，关于这个话题的可靠科学研究仍然很少，气囊降低死亡率的方式和程度仍存在争议。有几个因素似乎影响了气囊的效果，其使用仍然存在与制造、正确使用、用户教育和风险补偿相关的几个限制。
雪崩气囊似乎是减少背包探险中死亡率的重要工具。然而，需要更多的研究和标准化的数据收集来填补知识空白，山区社区应该促进对冬季娱乐者的充分教育，包括如何预防和应对雪崩，以及如何正确使用气囊与已经可用的工具（如收发机、探针和铲子）相结合；制造公司应确保生存雪崩设备的更高效率，以更好地预防掩埋、窒息和创伤。
