Splint Receives Rave Reviews from Ski Patrol

Harold Holt, the ski patrol supervisor at Paoli Peaks in Paoli, IN, loves his Minto Sager Splint. The patrol ordered its first back in the late 1990s when its splint went missing at a hospital. Holt likes to read and had been researching the Sager product in-depth already. The 100-volunteer patrol now owns three, as well as its older splints, but the Sager is most widely used in real-life and training.

“It was a mixed blessing that the splint disappeared,” he says, and jokes about any hospital’s pile of lost-and-found equipment, as well as agencies’ swapping by accident.

He says the biggest benefit is the ability for it to be used by a single responder. Many times he patrols the ski trails by himself and this compact, lightweight product is easily opened and applied in approximately two minutes. It fits adults and children universally.

It also has a feature that allows a responder to document the amount of tension applied. And Holt was even able to send it to the company a few months ago to have a new calibration gauge put in. The company, he says, has been “more than helpful” with repairs, information and customer service overall. He likes the splint so much that “I asked the company for a T-shirt,” he says proudly.

Another perk Holt likes is the splint’s ability to handle bilateral femur fractures. With other splints, he says, responders must apply one splint on each leg. While it’s not used often, it’s very helpful, which is why the patrol wanted the optional feature of the splint. It actually came in handy this ski season when a snowboarder had an accident and was airlifted out of Paoli Peaks. The adaptability doesn’t end there, since the Minto Sager Splint can be used for a mid-shaft fracture as well as proximal third.

Visit www.sagersplints.com.