Susan Gormley Inducted into National Ski Patrol Hall of Fame
The announcement that Susan (Sue) Gormley was inducted into the
National Ski Patrol Hall of Fame was made at the Hyland Hills OEC Refresher on
Sunday October 13, 2019.
Susan Gormley joined the National Ski Patrol at Hyland
Hills in 1980 and has been a patroller at Hyland Hills and in the Western
Region of the Central Division her entire patrolling career. As a fellow
patroller, many know Sue as an OEC and OET Instructor, a mentor, a leader and a
friend.
33 years ago, when the National Ski Patrol decided that
Western Region would host a pilot program of a new Winter Emergency Care (WEC) program,
Western Region chose Sue Gormley to lead the pilot program.
Sue was one of the first patrollers trained to be a WEC
instructor in 1986 when she coordinated the pilot program at Hyland Hills. With the success of the pilot program, Sue
became a major contributor to the development of the first edition of the
Winter Emergency Care textbook and associated instructor manual and student
workbook.
Simultaneously, Sue
became one of the first WEC Instructor Trainers in the Country and traveled
extensively coordinating training programs that created the first WEC
Instructors in the Central Division. Sue
then helped create a quality assurance program to ensure that the WEC program
was taught correctly. Sue became one of
two Divisional WEC Supervisors in 1987 and served in this role until 1989 when
she stepped down to become the Hyland Hills Patrol Director, from 1989 to 1993.
Although she was no
longer the Division Supervisor, Sue remained an Instructor Trainer and continued
to contribute to the WEC program (now known as Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC)) by
being involved as contributor to the development of four OEC Skill Videos,
including participating in the filming of the 1994 OEC Spinal Immobilization
Video at Wild Mountain Ski Area. Sue also leveraged her career as
a lead emergency response trainer for Mesaba Airlines to work with Julie Rust
of the Professional Division to develop the Outdoor First Care Program, an ancillary program for Ski Areas.
Finally, Sue volunteered to host and coordinate one of the 20 Pilot
Programs for the Senior OEC Program, including providing extensive feedback for
the development of the Senior OEC Program Material that was published in 1993.
Sue returned to being
a Central Division OEC Supervisor in 1993 and in that position, continued to
work as a lead Instructor Trainer in the role out of the next wave of the OEC
program. Including especially, starting
the process of re-certification of OEC Instructors. During this time, Sue volunteered to assist
with the role out of the re-certification program in Alaska, Intermountain and
Rocky Mountain Divisions and attended OEC Events in Eastern, Pacific Northwest
and Southern Divisions.
Sue became the
Assistant National OEC Supervisor and served in this role from 1996 -
2000. During this time, she worked to
streamline OEC administrative procedures and simplify OEC program
material. Sue contributed to the 3rd
edition of the OEC Book and was one of the co-editors and coordinators for the
3rd edition Instructor Manual and Student Workbook materials.
After ending her time as Assistant National
OEC Supervisor, Sue contributed to the 4th edition of the OEC Book
and related Instructor Manual and Student material. Sue also remained an active OEC Instructor
Trainer in the Western Region until 2006.
In her role as one of
the first WEC/OEC Instructor Trainers in the Country, Sue was involved in the
early versions of instructor development.
When this evolved into the Instructor Development Program in 1989, Sue
became an Instructor Development Instructor Trainer and continued in this role
until 2016. Sue provided input to the 2nd
edition of Training Patrollers Effectively.
Sue has been honored
with many NSP awards including a National Appointment, a National Distinguished
Service Award, and several Yellow Merit Stars.
During Sue’s carrier,
Sue has been and remains a fierce advocate for candidate and
patroller training programs of the NSP.
Her advocacy is inspirational and gives all of us an example of what we
can do to make and keep the National Ski Patrol a strong and vital
organization.
Submitted by Jeffrey
Olsen
