NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, December 27, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation 
creating Shiloh National Military Park, Tennessee.  It preserves the 
field of a two-day battle in April 1862, one of the largest 
engagements in the western theater of the Civil War.

INCIDENTS

00-767 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Rescue

South District rangers received a report of a 21-year-old man having a 
diabetic emergency at the Icewater Spring shelter on the Appalachian 
Trail late on the morning of December 20th. When ranger John 
McCutcheon arrived, he found that the man was suffering from 
hypothermia and diabetic ketoacidosis - a condition that can easily 
progress to diabetic shock and death if not treated. McCutcheon warmed 
him and began administering fluids. A carryout team staged at the 
Newfound Gap parking lot on Highway 441 while efforts were made to 
obtain a helicopter. The team had carried him about two miles north on 
the trail when a National Guard helicopter arrived and medevaced the 
man to Sevier County Medical Center. The operation was conducted in 
bitter cold temperatures and deep snow, but the weather was clear and 
there were no winds at the time. [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 12/26]

00-768 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Body Found

Two hikers contacted a member of the park's road crew just before noon 
on December 21st and reported an unconscious man on the Alum Cave 
trail. Rangers reached the spot within the hour and found a 
43-year-old man lying in the snow just below Arch Rock. After 
consultation with medical control, he was pronounced dead at the 
scene. It appears that he was on a day hike and simply went to sleep 
on the trail. A team comprised of a dozen employees carried the body 
out. [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 12/22]

00-769 - Lake Roosevelt NRA (WA) - Probable Suicide

On Friday, December 15th, ranger Eric Peterson discovered an 
unattended pickup truck in the Hawk Creek area.  Inside the vehicle, 
in plain view, was the last will and testament of a 48-year-old 
Spokane man. In the note, he wrote that he was heading west with his 
handgun to find a spot near a tree with a view of the lake where he 
could commit suicide. An empty handgun box was also in the truck. 
Rangers, maintenance personnel, and county deputies conducted a hasty 
search of the area but found no signs of the man. The search continued 
through Tuesday, with additional assistance from volunteers and a 
search dog. Investigation revealed that the man had been missing since 
December 13th and that he had a history of suicide attempts and mental 
illness.  Several inches of new snow, cold weather, and high winds 
have hampered search efforts.  The search has been scaled back to 
daily patrols of the area. (Mark Arsenault, Acting CR, LARO, 12/22]

00-770 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Attempted Suicide; Life Saved

Visitors Jean Henry and Clark Ross came upon a man hanging from a tree 
while they were hiking on the Gold Strike trail on Christmas Day. They 
freed the man, a 58-year-old Boulder City resident; Ross began CPR 
while Henry returned to the trailhead and summoned help. Rangers Wes 
Houk and Paul Crawford arrived and found that the man was breathing on 
his own but was unconscious and unresponsive. ALS was accordingly 
begun. Within about 10 minutes, the man became conscious and 
combative. Over the next two hours, he continued to fight with Houk, 
Crawford and ranger Joe Hayes, repeatedly taking off his oxygen mask 
and pulling out his IV line. He was finally restrained on a backboard 
with the assistance of members of the Las Vegas PD SAR team, then 
taken to the Alan Bible VC, picked up by a Flight for Life helicopter, 
and taken to the UMC Trauma Center in Las Vegas. During the incident, 
the rangers learned that the man was an alcoholic, that he was 
suffering from a brain tumor, and that he had made several suicide 
attempts in this past.  In this attempt, he had tied the arms of his 
jacket around a branch, put his head through the loop made by the 
jacket arms, twisted the jacket until it was tight around his neck, 
then bent his legs at the knees in an effort to hang himself. [Paul 
Crawford, SPR, Boulder Basin District, LAME, 12/25]

                        [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

No new information. Please check the NPS Fire Management Program 
Center web page (www.fire.nps.gov) for further information on fire 
plan projects.

Park Fires

No new fires reported.

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please 
address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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