Interview Guide
* Interviews' Goals:
(What we are trying to accomplish with the interview)
This interview guide proposes:
1.– To reach a deeper understanding of- The current mountaineering priorities with regard to search & rescue operations.
- The degree of awareness among mountaineers of the realities behind high altitude search & rescue operations.
2.– To reach a deeper understanding of:- The current stakeholders' understanding of the problem domain
- The current stakeholders' assessment of their financial priorities with regard to the problem domain
* Open-ended Prompts:
(Some questions that may get the stakeholders to discuss their goals, activities, and needs)
1.- Assessing current mountaineering culture and priorities:- Do you think emergency assistance to climbers beyond 15,000ft is appropriate?
- Where do you think responsibilities lie with regard to all emergency situations arising on the slopes of a mountain?
2.- Assessing (& stimulating) the degree of awareness among mountaineers of the realities behind high altitude search & rescue operations.
- How appropriate do you think traditional search & rescue operations are in case of head injuries, heart attack, apoplexy, internal injuries, and neck or spinal fractures?
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work in shaded gullies, exposed ridges, and glaciers?3.- Assessing current stakeholders understanding of the problem domain:
- Have you ever been involved in any capacity in a mountaineering search & rescue operation?
- Have you ever challenged the current orthodoxy behind traditional search & rescue operations?
4.- Assessing current stakeholders understanding of their financial priorities with regard to the problem domain:
- Who do you think pays for emergency rescues operations?
- Who do you think should pay for mountain rescue operations?
- Would you be willing to purchase, lease, or rent emergency response tools and communication devices?
* Specific Questions
(Specific questions we would ask if answers don’t come up spontaneously in the open ended interview)
1.- Assessing current mountaineering culture and priorities:- Do you think it is appropriate to risk additional life's in order to rescue mountaineers in life threatening situations?
- Should mountaineers be held accountable for risks they freely choose to take?
- Should a technology arise that would afford mountaineers greater self reliance would you consider adopting it?
- Resistance to change is culturally engrained. Yet, if new technology would allow a better alternative to traditional search & rescues operations would you be willing to try it?
- How much of a factor do you think resistance to change would delay adoption of such a technology?
2.- Assessing (& stimulating) the degree of awareness among stakeholders of the realities behind high altitude search & rescue operations:
- Many snow and ice routes follow gullies:
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work in shaded snow and ice gullies?
- How about steep couloirs in the mid afternoon?- Many snow and ice routes follow ridges:
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work on cornices exposed to high wind and severe weather?
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work when approaching a cornice from windward?
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work when approaching a cornice from leeward?
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work underneath a cornice?- Many snow and ice routes follow glaciers:
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work when the injured party location in a zone of accumulation proves to be the bridge over an unseen crevasse?
- How well do you think traditional search & rescue operations work when he injured party is located just below the summit on the glacier's highest bergschrund?
- How do you think deep slush on open slopes affect traditional search & rescue operations operations?
- Climbers often get injured during a storm while traditional search & rescue operations get underway after the storm subsides. Do you think the risk of avalanches burying a rescue party underway on an inclined slope after a storm raises significant ethical questions for mountaineers?
3.- Assessing current stakeholders understanding of the problem domain:
- What do your think is the most critical factor in handling emergency situations?
- What do your think is the fundamental issue in health care delivery at high elevation?
- What do you think is the average response time to a climbing party's emergency assistance request?
4.- Assessing stakeholders' current understanding of the financial impact of the problem domain:- What do you think is the average cost charged to mountaineers for search & rescue operations?
- What do you think is the yearly average cost to tax payers for mountaineering search & rescue operations?
- What do you think is the yearly net negative cash flow resulting from mountaineering search rescue operations nationwide?
- What percentage of an expedition budget do you think mountaineers should allocate to emergency assistance?