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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Tuesday, August 1, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Yosemite NP Rescue Of Seriously Injured Concession Employee Employees at the May Lake High Sierra Camp in the Tuolumne Subdistrict reported hearing cries for help coming from the east buttress of Mt. Hoffman just before 10 a.m. on July 25th. Rangers and concession employees responded immediately to the area, a steep loose granite slope. They found park concession employee C.D., 25, lying on the ground with a severe head injury and a collapsed lung. He was unresponsive and was having difficulty maintaining his airway. Witnesses reported that C.D. was scrambling up a Mt Hoffman route when he fell over 100 feet, striking his head. Rangers and search and rescue personnel provided advanced life support while a short-haul rescue was organized due to the steep terrain. C.D. was short-hauled from the site, then transported to Awahnee Meadow, where he was met by a medevac helicopter that flew him to Modesto for treatment of his life-threatening injuries. The rescue team consisted of 16 park employees. The initial response by concession employees was paramount in providing patient care and in assuring the overall success of the operation. Later the same day, Tuolumne rangers conducted a second helicopter evacuation for a patient experiencing chest pains. [Charles Cuvelier, Deputy Chief Ranger] Dinosaur NM Domestic Livestock Removal In early July, rafting groups began reporting the presence of a flock of domestic sheep along the Green River in an area frequented by bighorn sheep. The mixing of domestic sheep with bighorn sheep is a concern due to the possibility of transmission of disease. The probable owners of the sheep were contacted and taken down the river to identify the sheep and plan for their removal. The sheep were found to be in an area where they could not easily be herded over land and plans were accordingly made to evacuate them by water. On Saturday, July 15th, four park employees and eight ranchers made their way downriver from Rainbow Park and collected and anesthetized six sheep, which were then placed in rafts, rowed to Split Mountain boat ramp, and offloaded. Unfortunately, one sheep did not survive the trip for unknown reasons. [Kathy Krisko, Assistant Chief Ranger] Glen Canyon NRA PWC Operator Killed By Lightning A man operating a PWC near the launch ramp at the Wahweap Marina during an approaching thunderstorm was struck by lightning and killed on the afternoon of July 30th. Lightning struck K.V., 48, of Gilbert, Arizona, directly on the left shoulder, capsizing the PWC and throwing him into the water. Other members of his party were in the immediate area and were able to pull him from the water, begin CPR, and transport him to the main launch ramp. Rangers were on scene within minutes and transported K.V. via ranger ambulance to the hospital in Page. An intensive effort was made to resuscitate him, but proved unsuccessful. [Mark Law, Law Enforcement Specialist] C&O Canal NHP Significant Vandalism To Private Vehicle On the evening of July 14th, a park visitor returned from a boat trip on the Potomac River and found that his 2004 Chevrolet truck had been seriously vandalized. The truck had been pelted with large rocks, breaking four windows and cause over $3,600 worth of damage. The man supplied rangers with the name of the person who he thought had damaged the truck - someone with a personal vendetta against him. The follow-up investigation led to two teenagers and a 21-year-old man being charged with vandalism to private property. [Al Voner] 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: Glacier NP - Press release on recent evacuations and closures due to the fire there. Golden Gate NRA - Information on a mail fraud scam involving the park's non-profit partner. Arches NP - Media story on BLM withdrawing acreage near the park from oil and gas leasing. * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |