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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Wednesday, July 26, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Lake Mead NRA Successful Search For Missing Man Park dispatch received a call around 6 a.m. on Monday, July 23rd, reporting a missing man. G.O., 42, of Las Vegas, Nevada, had come to Callville Bay on Sunday to go boating and camping with friends. At about 1 a.m., he walked away from this group and became lost in the desert without water. At about 3 a.m., G.O. called a friend on his cell phone and told him that he was lost near Callville Bay. The friend came to the park to try and find him but was unsuccessful and called rangers for help. Rescue personnel were chiefly concerned about the effect of heat on G.O., as the temperature hit at least 117 degrees on Sunday. When last contacted by cell phone, G.O. told his friend that he was on a big rock in the desert and that he was hot and tired. Joining the search were the park's aircraft, Metro PD SAR teams, a Metro PD helicopter, and an interagency fire crew and helicopter. Rangers and special agents were able to reach one of the members of G.O.'s party around 5 p.m. and found that the group had actually been on the Arizona side of the lake when G.O. went walking in the desert. The interagency helicopter began a search of that side of the park and he was spotted within 15 minutes. G.O. was picked up by a ranger boat just before 7 p.m. He was dehydrated but otherwise okay. [Roxanne Dey, Public Affairs Officer] HYPERLINK "http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-25-Tue-2006/news/8676554.html" http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jul-25-Tue-2006/news/8676554.html Grand Teton NP Short-Haul Rescue Of Injured Climber Rangers evacuated an injured climber by helicopter from Garnet Canyon on the evening of Saturday, July 22nd. Earlier that afternoon, A.B., 22, of Laramie, Wyoming, slipped while scrambling up a rocky pitch to reach a climbing route called Open Book on the south side of Disappointment Peak. A.B. fell about 20 to 25 feet and tumbled an additional 50 to 75 feet before coming to a stop. She sustained injuries to her thorax and received multiple lacerations and bruises during the accident. A.B. and four climbing companions were at the 9,400-foot elevation when the mishap occurred. She was not wearing a helmet or roped up at the time. However, ropes and helmets are not typically used on this climbing approach. One of A.B.'s climbing partners quickly scrambled back down into Garnet Canyon to gain cell reception and make a 911 call just before 3 p.m. After Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received notice of the accident, two rangers immediately began hiking and running to the location. They covered approximately four miles with an elevation gain of 2,700 feet in 90 degree heat, reaching A.B. in less than two hours. These rangers provided emergency medical care to A.B. and assessed her condition for evacuation. Due to the nature of her injuries and the location of the accident, it was decided to utilize an interagency contract helicopter for evacuation rather than transport her over rocky terrain on a wheeled litter. The interagency helicopter flew into Garnet Canyon meadows, where three additional rangers staged for a helicopter short-haul evacuation procedure. A.B. was placed into an evacuation suit at the accident site and suspended below the helicopter on a double rope system for a short flight back to Garnet Canyon meadows. The helicopter hovered over the landing site at the meadows while rangers released A.B. from the helicopter's suspended rope. After the helicopter landed, A.B. was placed inside the ship, accompanied by two rangers, for a final flight to the Lupine Meadows on the valley floor. A.B. was then transported by ambulance to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment of her injuries. This marks the sixteen major search and rescue operation in Grand Teton National Park this year. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] Cape Hatteras NS Windsurfer Drowns In Sound On the afternoon of July 22nd, Dare County dispatch received a phone call reporting that a 66-year-old visitor from Canada had been pulled from the water on the sound side of the park and that CPR was currently in progress. The man had been windsurfing about 90 yards offshore when witnesses saw him fall off his board into the sound, then saw him floating face down in the water. They pulled him to shore and began CPR. County paramedics and local rescue squad members continued CPR and took him to Healtheast Hatteras Medical Center. He was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. [Norah Martinez, Chief 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: Harpers Ferry Center - Announcement of next phases of reorganization of the center Historic Preservation Training Center - The center has gone 555 days without a serious injury Big Cypress - The park participated in a big, multi-agency SAR exercise NP of American Samoa - Roger Moder is the new super Gulf Islands - AO position opening * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |