INCIDENTS

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Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL,MS)
Special Event: Boaters Rendezvous

On Sunday, June 1st, the Boaters Rendezvous and Blessing of the Recreational Fleet was held at West Ship Island. Approximately 400 registered boats and nearly 4,000 persons attended the event. The public safety aspect of the event was successfully managed under a unified incident command system; participating were the NPS, Coast Guard, Harrison County Sheriff's Office, Department of Marine Resources, and American Medical Response. Chris Ryan was the overall IC. Rangers and officers stayed busy throughout the event. There were 17 arrests, including several for public intoxication, disorderly conduct (fighting), and boating under the influence of alcohol. Numerous warnings were given and at least six fights were broken up. Violation notices were issued for glass containers on the beach, possession of marijuana, and interfering with agency functions. The presence of all of the officers helped prevent more law enforcement incidents from occurring; having the medics on scene to treat patients was also a plus. The public service agencies worked very well together to manage this event.
[Submitted by Chief Rangers Office]

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (AZ,UT)
Life Saved Through Effective EMS Response

Just before noon on May 31st, park dispatch received a call for assistance over marine band radio. The caller reported that he was arriving at the Wahweap Marina boat ramp with a man who'd been recently pulled from the lake. Park medics Erik Larson and Richard Moore were on scene within a minute and found that 32-year-old H.L. was unconscious and not breathing. Efforts to maintain an open airway were hampered by H.L.'s recent neck surgery and the constant need for suction. Despite these challenges, the medics — assisted by EMTs Jared St. Clair and Brian Lake — were able to successfully intubate and revive him. H.L. was then flown to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he continues to recover.
[Submitted by Cindy Ott-Jones, Chief Ranger]

Gateway National Recreation Area
Fisherman Drowns in Horseshoe Cove

Rangers Peter Tortorell and Tony Macri were dispatched to the Horseshoe Cove area of the Sandy Hook Unit early on the evening of June 5th to investigate a report of a fisherman in distress. When they arrived, they saw R.S., 52, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, flailing his arms and calling for help, then submerge approximately 25 yards offshore. Chas Donahue, a maintenance worker and former park lifeguard, was the first to enter the water in the rescue attempt. Off-duty Sandy Hook lifeguards Seth Levin and Nate Boyle responded from their residence and recovered the 6'5", 300-pound R.S. within nine minutes of the initial report. A responding Coast Guard vessel brought them to shore, where CPR and AED intervention was begun. R.S. was transported by ambulance to Monmouth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Witness said that R.S. had walked far out onto a sandbar, where strong tidal currents and heavy fishing waders possibly contributed to his drowning.
[Submitted by Tony Macri, Supervisory Park Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Preparedness Level 2

Initial attack was light on Monday, with 149 new fires reported.

Fire Danger

State	6/5	6/6	6/7	6/8	6/9	6/10
Alaska	--	VX	VX	--	VX	VX
Arizona	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Colorado	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Nevada	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
New Mexico	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Oklahoma	--	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Texas	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Utah	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX

VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme

Fire Weather Watches and Warnings

No watches or warnings have been posted for today.

National Resource Commitments

Day	6/5	6/6	6/7	6/8	6/9	6/10
Crews	43	56	69	63	58	52
Engines	33	56	103	77	48	55
Helicopters	10	18	18	21	19	17
Air Tankers	1	1	1	0	0	0
Overhead	587	560	653	643	720	615

National Team Commitments

State	Type Team	Team IC	Fire/Location	Acres	Percent Contain	Est Full Contain
AZ	T2	Kvale	Thomas Fire Apache-Sitgreaves NF	1,971	5%	UNK
NM	FUM	Rath	Dry Lakes Complex Gila NF	4,800	0%	UNK

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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NPS Office at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
NPS Field Training Program Update #2

During the week of May 26th, a work group met at FLETC to review the Service's field training program. Participating were NPS FLETC staff; Phil Selleck, chief ranger at Delaware Water Gap NRA; Cameron Sholly, deputy chief ranger of Yosemite NP; Steve Dodd, law enforcement specialist of Glacier NP; and Peter Tortorell, park ranger of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway NRA. Karen Taylor-Goodrich, acting associate director for visitor and resource protection, attended for a day and was briefed on the status of the program. She also assisted the work group in dealing with several critical policy issues. The program is still on track, with NRPI Class 401 to begin their field training in January, 2004. The goal of having 24 field training parks has not been attained. Several parks showing early interest were unable to solicit sufficient interest from field rangers to function as field training rangers. There are currently 19 field training parks. With the lack of field training parks and the need to place additional trainees in selected sites, the decision was made to train additional field training rangers (FTRs). To assist with recruitment, Taylor-Goodrich has authorized 10% administratively uncontrolled overtime (AUO) for all FTRs and field training leaders (FTLs) on a year-round basis and an additional 10% AUO when they have trainees. In other words, an FTR/FTL will be receiving 20% AUO while working with trainees. Taylor-Goodrich will also brief the National Leadership Counsel (NLC) on the program and the need for additional training parks, especially areas that can accommodate trainees during the winter months. The FTEP program manager will be contacting field training parks to solicit additional nominations for FTRs. The selection process for FTRs and FTLs will be completed by the end of the month. Because of the program modification, the first training session for FTR/FTLs in July was cancelled. It has been moved to August 18th and will focus on training only FTLs. An October session will be added to replace the cancelled July session. In order to assist those parks participating in the program, a decision was made to purchase laptop computers to be used in conjunction with personal data assistants (PDAs). Each field training park will receive one or more laptops based upon the number of FTR/FTLs they have. Each FTR/FTL will receive a PDA and keyboard. The contractor, MdE, will complete the FTEP software and manual update by July 30th.
[Submitted by JR Tomasovic]

Social Science Program
Final Report from Study of Visitor Safety in the Parks

The final report from A Comprensive Study of Visitor Safety in the National Park System, commissioned by the NPS Social Science Program and Risk Management Division is now available.

The National Park Service commissioned a team of researchers at The George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, to conduct a comprehensive assessment of visitor safety at a sample of 30 of the National Parks. The project was conducted between April 1, 2000 and April 15, 2002 and involved four primary tasks:

•        An extensive review of the social science research literature that is presented in the report entitled A Review of the Literature for a Comprehensive Study of Visitor Safety in the National Park System;

•        The collection and analysis of data on almost 20,000 visitor accidents over the period 1993 to 1998 that are described in the report entitled An Analysis of Visitor Accident Risk in the National Park System;

•        An inventory of hazards and risk conditions in the 30 parks that is presented in a report entitled An Inventory of Hazards and Risk Conditions in the National Parks; and,

•        The development, distribution, and analysis of an extensive survey of visitors in the 30 parks that is described in the report entitled A Survey of Visitor Safety in the National Park System.

This final report summarizes each of these reports, presents fifteen major findings, and makes seventeen recommendations.
[Submitted by Dick Powell, dick_powell@nps.gov, (202) 513-7218] More Information...

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.