A Eurac-led research group is conducting a medical trial with Safeback SBX, financing it independently with MountainLab (Mountain Medicine Research Group, University of Bergen). As a part of the trial, full burial tests were carried out on 30 volunteers who were among the first to experience complete snow burial with the system activated. The study’s results will be ready in the fall.
“The device has never been subject to a formal medical trial and the characteristics of the snow can possibly influence its effectiveness. For this reason, in our study we test the functionality with people actually buried in the snow and monitor various physiological parameters,” explained Giacomo Strapazzon, director of the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine at Eurac. Strapazzon was responsible for the study.
In the event of complete burial in an avalanche, oxygen deprivation is most often the cause of death. Safeback SBX was created to provide fresh air to the victim under the snow, increasing the chances for rescuers to find buried people alive. A continuous flow of air, for 90 minutes, pumps through the system up to the breathing area thanks to two flexible tubes positioned on the shoulder straps.
“Safeback has based the product development of the SBX on research and testing. It has always been our intention that the product be tested by independent researchers to confirm the effect of Safeback SBX in terms of extending life expectancy when trapped under the snow. With all their previous research on the subject, we fully trust their expertise to design and conduct a medical trial to find out just this,” added Tor Berge, co-founder and CEO of Safeback.
The system functions via an electric air pump which exploits a particular property of snow: it is porous and permeable to air, even when snow is heavy. The device sucks the air out of the snow behind the victim’s back and delivers it up to their face. Thanks to this constant supply of air, even in burials without air pockets, the amount of oxygen present could be sufficient to survive, despite the victim exhaling carbon dioxide.
“At first, we were afraid we would not be able to recruit people willing to be completely buried in the snow, lying face-down on their stomachs, to contribute to this research. Contrary to expectations, about a hundred people applied and some insistently asked to be selected,” said Eurac doctor and researcher Frederik Eisendle.
The volunteers were then subjected to preliminary tests to determine their eligibility to participate without outsized risks to their health, while field tests were carried out in a secret area of the Dolomites. In Italy.
During the tests, the researchers constantly monitored the buried subjects’ oxygen saturation, various cardiovascular parameters, the frequency and depth of breathing, the density of the snow and the ratio between oxygen and carbon dioxide while breathing in the snow. Tests also were carried out to measure the body’s response to a stressful situation like this. To rule out a placebo effect, the test subjects were divided into two groups without telling them which group they belonged to: one control group was assigned a dummy device (which did not work but made realistic sounds) and the other group a working device.
“Regardless of the results of this study, no device can ever guarantee survival under an avalanche. The most important thing is to prevent exposure, thanks to the avalanche forecasting and warning services or the training of companions on self-rescue techniques. If the device we are testing works well, those who go to the mountains will have an extra tool to extend the time in which the rescue is still effective,” said Hermann Brugger, emergency doctor at Eurac Research.
Experts expect that the differences in the time spent under the snow of the two groups give indications of the effectiveness of the device. Safeback SBX already has received the necessary certifications to be marketed by the manufacturer and will be sold in avalanche backpacks from Db and Bergans of Norway in the fall.
For more information, visit https://www.eurac.edu/en/institutes-centers/institute-of-mountain-emergency-medicine
