Lukas Oldenburg

**soylent green** · 12-10-2007, 02:40 PM

Sadly I just read on Powderbuzz that Luke has passed away. My thougts are with everyone involved. Hang in there.

**killclimbz** · 12-10-2007, 04:00 PM

I just read the same thing too. RIP Luke.

**The Dad** · 12-10-2007, 04:30 PM

RIP, indeed.

Originally Posted by Summit

Suffice to say, CPR buys time.

True. But not much time.

Our OEC instructor told us one story about a sidecountry burial near Donner Summit a few years back. A few Sugar Bowl patrollers made it to one victim; shortly thereafter, a similar number of bystanders dug out the other. Neither victim was breathing nor had a palpable pulse. The patrollers started CPR on their victim, but the bystanders were untrained and simply called for help. The CPR victim died; the one who received no CPR lived. Anectdotal, obviously, and not a controlled experiment. But perhaps illustrative nonetheless.

The statistics are sobering. I don't have my OEC text in front of me, but IIRC, starting CPR within 2 minutes, applying an AED within 4 minutes, and transferring to advanced life support within 6-8 minutes -- basically, optimal response anywhere outside a hospital -- yields a survival rate of 30-40%.

I think that the chances that a backcountry skier can get beyond the first link of that chain in the allotted time are essentially nonexistent. In a resort, you probably have an AED available and depending on the resort, you may have ALS available in the aid shack or a quick ambulance ride away, and I know of instances in which CPR has been successful. But I don't know similar anecdotes about backcountry CPR success.

Does anyone know of a backcountry avy victim who was revived using CPR and survived?

**LeeLau** · 12-10-2007, 04:38 PM

That is so sad. I'm really really sad for his loved ones and the rescuers who tried so hard.

**summit** · 12-10-2007, 09:43 PM

Trackster, remember if you find yourself questioning your actions that there wasn't anything else to be done and to have accomplished what you did manage was only through amazing action.

May your friend RIP and find only deep turns on his eternal dawn patrol

Originally Posted by alpinedad

True. But not much time.

Our OEC instructor told us one story about a sidecountry burial near Donner Summit a few years back. A few Sugar Bowl patrollers made it to one victim; shortly thereafter, a similar number of bystanders dug out the other. Neither victim was breathing nor had a palpable pulse. The patrollers started CPR on their victim, but the bystanders were untrained and simply called for help. The CPR victim died; the one who received no CPR lived. Anectdotal, obviously, and not a controlled experiment. But perhaps illustrative nonetheless.

The statistics are sobering. I don't have my OEC text in front of me, but IIRC, starting CPR within 2 minutes, applying an AED within 4 minutes, and transferring to advanced life support within 6-8 minutes -- basically, optimal response anywhere outside a hospital -- yields a survival rate of 30-40%.

I think that the chances that a backcountry skier can get beyond the first link of that chain in the allotted time are essentially nonexistent. In a resort, you probably have an AED available and depending on the resort, you may have ALS available in the aid shack or a quick ambulance ride away, and I know of instances in which CPR has been successful. But I don't know similar anecdotes about backcountry CPR success.

Very true... a more correct statement would be: CPR buys time for a few patients if applied early enough.

AEDs are key in that they can actually fix a problem, but only work if there if the patient is if VF.

ALS can do more for that pulseless apneic person like defib PVT, apply other electrical majik, intubate, and use various cardiac drugs.

Ultimately, despite everyone doing everything right, pulseless apneic victims will always have poor survival percentages because it is always hard to restore life to the dead.

**MrZach** · 12-11-2007, 11:00 AM

More from the Coloradoan on Luke

Originally Posted by Fort Collins Coloradoan

Lukas Oldenburg knew he took risks in life: He snowboarded in the remote Colorado backcountry, skydived, backpacked and climbed fourteeners.

He said it was the only way to face his fears and live life to the fullest.

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"There was a quote I read on a bathroom wall that I try to live by. It read: 'Everybody dies but not everybody really lives.' I think that applies to me," Oldenburg said in a 2002 interview with the Coloradoan. "I'll do a lot of crazy stuff even though there are large risks involved just to get more out of life."

Oldenburg, 31, died Monday from injuries suffered in a Dec. 2 avalanche near Hotdog Bowl above Zimmerman Lake, near Cameron Pass, about 66 miles west of Fort Collins.

It was at least the third avalanche Oldenburg had been in or near. He survived two previous slides near Loveland Pass and Berthoud Pass.

The Dec. 2 avalanche near Zimmerman buried Oldenburg in 3 feet of snow. His heart stopped beating and he wasn't breathing when two friends he was with dug him out.

They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, restarted his heart, and he was eventually flown via helicopter to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, where he had remained in a coma.

His family did not specify a cause of death but said they hoped people would remember him when they saw the landscapes he had designed during his eight years as a landscape architect at BHA Design in Fort Collins.

"He lived life to the fullest," his family said in his obituary.

The dozen employees at BHA Design on Monday planted a flowering crabapple tree at their office at 1603 Oakridge Drive in his memory.

Oldenburg was fresh out of North Dakota State University when BHA president Bruce Hendee hired him eight years ago.

"He cared deeply about his work and it showed in everything he did," Hendee said.

Oldenburg was a key member of the team that worked on the master plan for Poudre Valley Health System's Harmony campus, and most recently he worked to help finish Spring Canyon Park owned by the city of Fort Collins.

"One of his strengths is that he was very good in following through on the details," Hendee said. "He was interested in the environment and he cared deeply and passionately about the work he did.”

Hendee described Oldenburg as an adventurer. “We always looked forward to hearing his tales about what he was doing in the coming weekend.”

In addition to planting the tree, Hendee said Oldenburg’s co-workers will discuss as an office how best to honor his memory.

“We’re a very close-knit office, we only have 12 people and we all feel like family. We’ll talk about it as an office and think about how we may pay tribute to him.

“As a landscape architect, planting a flowering tree in his memory will certainly remind us every spring of him,” Hendee said Monday.

Monday afternoon, backcountry enthusiasts who had been praying for his recovery were expressing sadness at Oldenburg’s death, posting messages on the PowderBuzz.com forum.

“This is heartbreaking news. We didn’t know Luke, but it is always painful to lose a member of this tight-knit community, and we are grieving with you,” wrote one poster. “We wish all of Luke’s family and friends peace in this incredibly difficult time. May he be finding endless pow and beautiful turns on the other side ...”

Article

**powXer** · 12-11-2007, 11:19 AM

RIP Luke for sure. heard about the excellent rescue but didn't realize his current condition. a fist pump for you, Trackster.

**Below Zero** · 12-11-2007, 12:03 PM

Such sad news. R.I.P. Luke.

Did CAIC do a report of the other slides he was involved in?

**Mr. LebowSki** · 12-11-2007, 12:10 PM

I have been following the story on the news and in here...I am sorry to hear about Luke and want to send my best wishes to his family and friends!

**mitch_cumstein** · 12-11-2007, 12:55 PM

What hits close to home for me is that BHA Design, his former employer is a landscape architecture firm where many of my classmates, including my girlfriend will be applying in the coming months. damn.