Mountaineering Safety

Classroom Project, 2018, Individual

Improving emergency responses of and for Indian mountaineers to maximize safety by ensuring appropriate knowledge and awareness

The number of mountaineering accidents are rising due to many reasons. It is not possible to prevent all accidents but they can be minimized and their effects reduced by defining the responses to these events.

PROCESS

EXPLORE

Secondary Research

Survey

Interviews

Case Studies

DEFINE

Data Analysis

Affinity Mapping

IDEATE

Exploring Problem Areas

SOLUTION

System Design

EXPLORE

To start off, I gathered and collated data through secondary research which helped me understand the causes of mountaineering accidents. The aim was to understand the human factors and technical aspects behind mountaineering as well as understand the common causes of accidents. Several organisations like UIAA, Indian Mountaineering Foundation and Akhil Maharashtra Giryarohan Mahasangha, and their rules and guidelines were studied to understand the scenario. Apart from this, the certificate courses, levels and different equipment, products, devices, etc. used were also looked at. Different types of rescue organisations and protocols were also considered.

DEFINE

I conducted a survey, consisting of questions regarding their experiences related to mountaineering injuries, accidents, etc., was conducted on 40 participants. The next step was to define and compare different emergency situations by understanding their experiences with leaders, thought process in emergencies, decision making and risk taking behaviours and get a sense of the different metrics involved.

IDEATE

Further interviews of some of the respondents of the survey and case studies along with previously collected data helped map out different problem areas and their interrelations.

SOLUTION

Finally, I developed a concept for a system design which considers three different levels of interventions and mapped out how the system would work.