Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office

 Forest rangers in Taipei patrol the hillsides every day and in any weather condition. They need to work alone in the mountains and always be ready to cope with emergencies. These mountain lovers can perform lots of tasks, including climbing mountains, distinguishing terrain, and helping mountain climbers who have gotten lost. They can even operate UAVs to help them patrol. To make sure that forest rangers are safe when they are on duty, this past week (September 4) the Geotechnical Engineering Office, Public Works Department, Taipei City Government arranged  training for forest rangers to locate people on the map by phone and perform first-aid in the wild. This training will help forest rangers improve their survival skills through technological and medical knowledge and practical techniques and they will be able to use these skills when people require their assistance.

 Wu Hsi Chih, the developer of “Wadi”, a mobile app, is the lecturer of this course. He said that a user can use the offline map and GPX tracker to track himself/herself in the mountains and leave a trail to avoid getting lost. The ability to create and follow trails, as well as location skills, are essential to mountain climbers nowadays. Forest rangers can learn to record the patrol track in this course. They can send the coordinate immediately when they need help, hence rescue workers can reach them quickly. This skill is very important because it helps themselves and others.

 Huang Kuo Feng, the coach from Taiwan Wilderness Medical Association (TWMA) pointed out that the Basic Life Support (BLS) training course can teach forest rangers the CPR, AED and common first-aid injury treatment. All of the forest rangers taking the course can acquire Certificate of Qualification issued by TWMA. They can perform first-aid rescue before the golden rescue time closes when they run into an accident before the rescue worker arrives during mountain patrol in the future.

 Tsao Fu Chung, a senior forest ranger stated that there are a lot of different emergencies that may come up during mountain patrol. Bee stings, snake bites and stray dog attacks are common. Mountain skill training reduces risks for forest rangers on duty. Tsao Fu Chung recalled that he ran into a pale-faced mountain climber having difficulty breathing at Juansi Waterfall Trail in Shilin District. He checked if he was conscious, then reported to the rescue unit immediately. He operated the first-aid device according to the instructions of the rescue worker on the phone to get the mountain climber out of danger. It was fortunate that he was able to help him immediately. Tsao Fu Chung has benefited greatly by taking this training course because he learned more first-aid techniques and knowledge. He will now be at ease during mountain patrol.

 Note: If you need to refer to photos, please search for and download them from the website of "Geotechnical Engineering Office, Public Works Department, Taipei City Government" (http://www.geo.gov.taipei/).