A weekend in the desert: lessons in off-duty ORM.

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September is a great month in Southern California. Desert season starts at the end of the month, so I spent much of the summer getting my quad [four-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle], a Raptor 700R, ready for the sand.

I bought a new exhaust and new nerf bars (bolton equipment designed to keep other ATVs' tires from getting stuck between your front and rear tires). Once I had packed everything I needed for my first trip of the season, making sure I had all the equipment--helmet, goggles, gloves, chest protector, safety flag, and boots--I was off. The site I had chosen was Buttercup, located 180 miles east, or just 10 miles from the Arizona border.

My wife and I arrived at the dunes at 0900 Saturday morning and were excited to get going. A lot of sand dunes, many hundreds of feet tall, are in that area. I had been there countless times before and had experienced the effects of wind storms; they cause hills to change shape.

I took my time on the first ride of the day. There weren't many people out yet, since two-stroke ATVs wouldn't be allowed for two more weeks. The sand was smooth as I went in and out of the dunes and over the whoops (rolling bumps anywhere from five to 10 feet apart and one to three feet high). I thought to myself, "This is great! With just a few people out here and good sand, I'm gonna kick it up a notch!"

I got over the dunes and down to the hard pack with no problem. My speed increased to more than 70 mph at one point, but I backed it down to 40 or 50 when I started swerving around the small desert trees. I didn't have a second thought about my speed because I had been here before--I knew this desert. I assumed nothing could happen to me, but just to be safe, I had made sure I was wearing all my PPE. While flying around a turn, I looked ahead and saw a deep rut--maybe 2 feet wide and about 3 feet deep--in the dirt. The rut was diagonal across the trail. Having no where else to go, I hit my brakes, both front and rear. I was thinking to myself, "I'm not going to stop on time." My next thought was, "This is going to hurt!"

I hit the rut going about 40 mph. The left front tire dove into the rut and hopped up as it came out the other side. The left rear and right front tires dove into the rut next, instantly stopping my quad; however, I didn't stop. I kept moving 40 mph and hit the ground headfirst, shearing off the visor from my helmet. My shoulder dug in, causing my feet to go over my head and flipping me onto my back. My previous thoughts were correct: It did hurt.

I was on the ground wondering how seriously I had been hurt when I realized I could move my fingers, toes, arms, and legs. I assumed since everything was moving, I must not have broken any bones.

I slowly stood up and walked around a little to make sure everything was all right, then got back on the quad and headed to camp at a snail's pace.

When I arrived at the camp, I took off my helmet and dumped about five pounds of sand from it. All eight pads inside the helmet had come unsnapped.

When I took off the rest of my gear, I started noticing pain in my back; I thought I must have twisted it in the wreck. I then checked out the quad-there wasn't any serious damage.

I spent the night in the desert and enjoyed a few drinks around the campfire, even though I was in a little pain, which I attributed to some strained muscles.

When I woke up the next morning and decided to take a morning ride, I noticed I was a little stiff. It didn't take long for me to realize my body was damaged more than I had thought at first; I felt severe pain in my back from even minor bumps in the road.

I decided to turn around, head back, and call it a weekend. I packed up the quad for the trip back to San Diego.

When we arrived, I dropped off my wife and the quad and went to the emergency room at Naval Medical Center, San Diego. I spent six hours there and found out I had a compression fracture of my L1 vertebrae. I also had a concussion and other soft-tissue injuries. The doctor said I was lucky, and that if I hadn't been wearing the chest protector and helmet, I would have been much worse off. The doctor placed me on light duty for six weeks, put me in a back brace, and gave me some painkillers before sending me home.

My accident has taught me that ORM needs to be practiced all the time, regardless of how much confidence you have in your abilities. I practiced ORM by wearing the proper PPE and initially going slowly in the dunes. However, I failed to think about ORM when I was on the hard-packed ground. I had accelerated to a high speed and wasn't aware of the conditions of the trail I was driving on. If I had taken time to ride the trails at a slower pace and had learned the condition of the trails, I would have had a much nicer time--certainly a less painful one.

There are unknowns in unexpected conditions. People need to be trained to use the time-critical mnemonic: A (Assess the risks), B (Balance your resources), C (Communicate during the event), and D (Do and Debrief). Part of the assessment should be contingency planning--what could go wrong and what to do if it does--and a review of emergency procedures. Part of the balancing is making sure all players know what to do and are alert. Part of communicating is what to say (and to whom to say it) when something starts going wrong. The next time similar events occur, anyone who was caught off-guard (or who didn't know what to do) this time stands a much better chance of being prepared and ready to act.--Ted Wirginis, ORM program coordinator, Naval Safety Center

Resources:

* http://www.atvsafety.gov/ [ATV Safety.gov]

* http://www.atvsafety.org/ [ATV Safety Institute]

* http://www.nsc.org/library/facts/agriatv.htm [All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Safety]

* http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/Final_ATVReportLinks.pdf [All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Safety Crisis--America's Children At Risk]

* http://safetycenter.navy.mil/articles/CRITICALDAYS/2006/ATV.htm [ATV Mishaps: On the Rise and Very Serious]

* http://safetycenter.navy.mil/toolbox/offroadvehicles/default.htm [Off Road Vehicles Resources].