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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Wednesday, July 12, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Grand Teton NP Injured Climber Rescued From Death Canyon Rangers employed an interagency contract helicopter to evacuate an injured climber from Death Canyon early on the morning of Tuesday, July 11th. The all-night rescue operation began on Monday evening when climber S.E., 30, of Wilson, Wyoming, placed a 911 cell phone call to report that her climbing partner, S.T., 24, of Ammon, Idaho, had fallen and sustained serious injuries to his ankle while ascending a popular multi-pitch climbing route called the Snaz in the lower section of Death Canyon. S.T. was climbing at an elevation of about 8,400 feet on a difficult pitch near the top of the Snaz - a pitch rated 5.10 on the Yosemite decimal system - when he fell approximately 70 feet, pulling several pieces of his protection out of the rock along the way. He was wearing a helmet at the time of his fall. Despite his injuries, S.T. and S.E. were able to lower themselves to the base of the climbing route. S.E. then continued to the Death Canyon trailhead, where she placed a cell phone call for assistance at 8:45 p.m. Three rangers began hiking in to the scene immediately, and four more rangers followed with additional rescue equipment, including a wheeled litter. The first team of rangers reached S.T. at about 11:00 p.m. and provided emergency medical care. They also assessed the situation and set up a technical belay system for lowering S.T. to the trail. The second group of rangers reached the scene at about 2:30 a.m. Together, the rangers lowered S.T. and moved him to the Death Canyon patrol cabin, arriving there around 4:30 a.m. Due to S.T.'s extremely painful injuries and a concern for patient care, plus the rough terrain of the Death Canyon trail for a wheeled litter rescue, rangers decided to utilize an interagency contract helicopter for evacuation. The helicopter landed in a meadow just west of the Death Canyon patrol cabin at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Rangers then loaded S.T. inside the helicopter and flew him directly to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment of his injuries. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Specialist] Olympic NP Rangers Rescue Injured Hiker Rangers rescued an injured hiker from the Upper Lena Lake area of the park this past weekend. On Saturday, July 8th, E.M., 51, of Port Orchard, Washington, hiked to Upper Lena Lake on a day trip. Heading back to the trailhead at the end of the day, E.M. fell along the steep trail, sustaining a probable fracture to his right ankle. Other hikers left the area to contact emergency dispatchers (911), who notified park rangers of the incident. Two rangers hiked into the area, reaching E.M. around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night and keeping him stabilized during the night. Several more rangers assisted with the carryout on Sunday. Using a wheeled litter, rangers were able to transport E.M. over six miles and a 1500 foot drop in elevation along the steep trail. Volunteers from the Mason County chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen assisted over the last mile and a half. [Cat Hawkins Hoffman, Public Affairs Specialist] Big Thicket NP Rangers Involved In 45 Drug Arrests Over the last three months, protection rangers at Big Thicket have participated in 45 drug and alcohol-related arrests in the southern end of the park. Many of the cases were made in cooperation with the Hardin County Sheriff's Narcotics Division in the Village Creek area. Their efforts have been the subject of articles in local newspapers, and the rangers were publicly thanked by the Hardin County Sheriff. Two more cases took place early this month. On the night of July 8th, ranger Johnny Stafford, working with a Hardin County narcotics officer near Evadale on the Neches River, arrested a 37-year-old woman who was four months pregnant who had methamphetamine and a compact digital scale for weighing drugs in her possession. She was charged through Hardin County with a felony under Texas state law. Rangers Brian Gourgues and Stafford interrupted a drug deal at the Four Oaks day use area on the Neches River the night of July 1st. When contacted while engaged in a drug deal, a 39-year-old man initially confronted the rangers with a knife, but dropped the weapon when ordered to do so. The man, who'd brought along his 16-year-old son to assist him in selling crack cocaine, has been charged by the US Attorney's Office with felony possession and unlawful intent to distribute a controlled substance. [Keith Flanery, District Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: Grand Canyon - June 30th marked the 50th anniversary of one of the worst air crashes in history when two airliner collided over the park: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4610" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4610 WASO V&RP - Article posted asking parks if they'd be interested in hosting DirecTV cameras for broadcasts of natural features: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4612" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4612 Dinosaur - The Quarry VC has been closed until significant health and safety issues can be remedied: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4608" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4608 Casa Grande - Jason Lott is the new superintendent for the park: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1275" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1275 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |