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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, June 26, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Death Valley NP Two Missing People Found Alive In Park On Tuesday, June 12th, park staff learned that two missing people might be in the park. Ar.“L.”S., 45, and As.S., 34, both from the Los Angeles area, had failed to return to work at a Los Angeles restaurant as scheduled. A multi-agency search was begun at 7:30 a.m. Participating along with park staff were personnel from the Inyo County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol and San Bernadino County Sheriff's Office. A CHP helicopter and the park airplane provided air search capability. Temperatures in the valley were over 105 degrees during the day. Ar.S. and As.S. were found in a remote backcountry cabin around 3:30 p.m. Ar.S.'s vehicle had broken down and the pair had hiked to the cabin to await rescuers. Ranger Annie Leone served as the incident commander. [Nancy Wizner, Chief Ranger] Dinosaur NM Brothers Rescued From Near Drowning Two brothers were swept into the current while swimming near the Echo Park campground along the Green River on June 14th. The younger brother, age 16, began having trouble staying afloat and the older brother, age 18, attempted to swim after him. The 18-year-old also began having trouble, though, and was seen going underwater twice. Fortunately, a Hatch company concession river trip was nearby and managed to pull the younger brother to shore using a raft. A second Hatch boat deployed a rope bag to attempt to rescue the older brother, but he was too exhausted to hold onto it. Hatch employees and river ranger Chris Noyes then entered the water and brought him to shore. The victim was having respiratory difficulties and vomited water. He was treated by Noyes and ranger Zach Summerlin, then released to his father after he refused further treatment. [Kathy Krisko, Assistant Chief Ranger] US Park Police Hiker Rescued From Old Rag Mountain On the evening of Saturday, June 23rd, the crew of Eagle 2, the US Park Police helicopter, flew to Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah NP at the request of rangers to rescue an injured hiker. The man, who had a suspected leg fracture and a history of blood clots, was about 200 feet below the summit and a ground evacuation would have taken too long. Upon arrival, the crew of Eagle 2 - pilot officer Keaton Wright and rescue technician Simeon Klebaner - prepared to hoist the man aboard. Wright positioned the helicopter as Klebaner prepared the Billy Pugh net, which was lowered to rangers on the ground. The man was hoisted to the helicopter, then, following a brief landing to reposition him, flown to Fairfax Hospital for treatment. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: National Mall and Memorial Parks - The lead story is on the bicycle-led patrols and tours being conducted of the Mall - a fairly extensive program. Chief Information Officer - Less than one week remains for NPS employees, contractors, partners, and volunteers to complete this year's IT security awareness training requirement. Lake Meredith NRA - Paul H. Eubank, chief of resource management at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, is retiring after 36 years of federal service on July 30th. To see the above articles, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |