• Emily Procter, Giacomo Strapazzon, Karla Balkenhol, Ernst Fop, Alessandro Faggionato, Karl Mayr, Markus Falk, and Hermann Brugger.
• EURAC Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, Bolzano, Italy (Ms Procter and Drs Strapazzon, Balkenhol, and Brugger).
• Wilderness Environ Med. 2015 Mar 1; 26 (1): 68-71.

ObjectiveTo describe the prehospital management and safety of search and rescue (SAR) teams involved in a large-scale rockfall disaster and monitor the acute and chronic health effects on personnel with severe dolomitic dust exposure.MethodsSAR personnel underwent on-site medical screening and lung function testing 3 months and 3 years after the event.ResultsThe emergency dispatch center was responsible for central coordination of resources. One hundred fifty SAR members from multidisciplinary air- and ground-based teams as well as geotechnical experts were dispatched to a provisionary operation center. Acute exposure to dolomite dust with detectable silicon and magnesium concentrations was not associated with (sub)acute or chronic sequelae or a clinically significant impairment in lung function in exposed personnel.ConclusionsThe risk for personnel involved in mountain SAR operations is rarely reported and not easily investigated or quantified. This case exemplifies the importance of a multiskilled team and additional considerations for prehospital management during natural hazard events. Safety plans should include compulsory protective measures and medical monitoring of personnel.Copyright © 2015 Wilderness Medical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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