|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, July 10, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Glen Canyon NRA Carbon Monoxide Claims Life Of Young Girl M.E. and her friend, K.T., both seven years old, were swimming near two 30-foot cabin cruisers at their campsite on the shoreline of Lake Powell in Padre Bay on the morning of Saturday, July 7th. Both boats' engines were running with propellers disengaged to recharge their batteries. K.T.'s mom was showering, using hot water from the boat motor, when she noticed K.T. unconscious in the water and sinking. She immediately jumped into the water to rescue K.T. K.T. quickly regained consciousness once she was pulled from the water. As the group was attending to K.T., they realized M.E. was missing and a search was organized to look for her. They found her unconscious on the lake bottom in about five to ten feet of water. The group contacted the National Park Service. Park rangers and a medevac helicopter from Classic Helicopters in Page, Arizona, were dispatched to the scene. Paramedics from Classic Helicopters were the first on scene and began CPR on M.E. A second medevac helicopter arrived to assist in the response. Both girls were flown to the Page Hospital, where M.E. succumbed to drowning caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. Intense oxygen treatments at the Page Hospital were successful in treating K.T., who was later released and will make a full recovery. Both girls were from Flagstaff, Arizona. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that is produced by all motors. Dangerous levels of carbon monoxide can become trapped near the swim platform of some boats, or anywhere near the engine's exhaust. At the time of the accident, the wind was calm, which prevented the carbon monoxide from dispersing. People should never swim anywhere near a boat's exhaust. This is the first fatality related to carbon monoxide at the park since 2002. [Lindy Mihata, Law Enforcement Specialist] Denali NP&P Long Line Lowering On Mt. McKinley Mountaineering rangers and volunteers used a customized 3,000-foot rope to lower a sick climber from the mountain's 17,200-foot high camp to the 14,200-foot ranger camp on June 30th. M.K., 65, had developed snow blindness while descending from the peak's 20,320-foot summit, slowing the four-person team's progress considerably and forcing them to camp out above Denali Pass at 18,500 feet. When they descended to high camp the following morning, an NPS ranger patrol performed a medical evaluation of the climber. While being treated for snow blindness and exhaustion, M.K. began to display signs of high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and his condition rapidly deteriorated. Although weather conditions were clear and calm at high camp, low elevation cloud cover precluded a helicopter evacuation; a technical lowering was therefore begun. Ranger Tucker Chenoweth directed the lowering from the top of the 3,000-foot long line, while volunteer ranger Mike Loso attended M.K., who was packaged in a Cascade litter. Loso and M.K. were lowered 2,200-feet down the 30- to 55-degree slope in less than three hours. Where the terrain levels off at 15,000 feet, M.K. was met by ranger Kevin Wright and volunteer Ben Habecker, who skied the litter down to the 14,200-foot ranger camp. The entire transport time for the patient from camp to camp was four hours. In former years, ranger staff used multiple shorter ropes and corresponding anchoring systems to lower a patient. This method on average took between eight and ten hours and required six to ten rescuers. In 2001, the single 3,000-foot rope system was developed to enable safer and significantly faster rescues while putting fewer people in danger. This long line rescue took place in the midst of a lively week for rescue staff at the park, who had to deal with four helicopter evacuations and one ground rescue in the four day stretch from June 27th to June 30th. [Maureen McLaughlin] Grand Teton NP Backcountry Hiker Rescued From Granite Canyon C.T., 66, a seasonal resident in the Teton Village area of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, began to suffer symptoms of heat exhaustion while hiking in Granite Canyon on July 6th. Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a call from the Teton County Sheriff's Office about 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, reporting a 911 cell phone call from a hiker in distress on the Granite Canyon trail. C.T. had called to report that she was nauseous and unable to walk further. She was also slightly disoriented and describing characteristic symptoms of heat stress. Two park rangers immediately began hiking into Granite Canyon by foot and located C.T. about four miles from the Granite Canyon trailhead. Because her condition deteriorated after rangers reached her, an interagency helicopter was summoned to expedite an evacuation. Rangers used the short-haul rescue technique to quickly transport C.T. from the canyon trail via helicopter to a waiting park ambulance at the Granite Canyon Entrance Station on the Moose-Wilson Road. The park ambulance then transported C.T. to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment. This marks the sixth major search and rescue operation this year in Grand Teton National Park and the second rescue in two days time involving hikers who were overcome by the effects of heat, dehydration, overexertion or altitude. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] Lake Mead NRA One Killed, Six Injured In Single-Vehicle Accident A supervisory park ranger en route to work on July 5th came upon a single vehicle rollover accident on Highway 93 just inside the park. A quick initial assessment revealed that there were seven victims - two in critical condition and five with minor injuries. The two in critical condition were women who'd both sustained major trauma. One had been ejected from the vehicle, the other was trapped inside. The woman who'd been ejected was unconscious and unresponsive and was immediately taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital in Boulder City, where she was pronounced dead. The second woman was extricated and flown to the UMC trauma center. The remaining five, including a two-year-old boy, all had minor injuries and were taken by ambulance to the University Medical Center. The accident is under investigation, alcohol is not believed to be a factor. Assisting NPS rangers and wildland fire personnel with the accident were units from Boulder City PD, Boulder City Fire and Rescue, Hoover Dam PD, and the Nevada Highway Patrol. [Mary Hinson, Chief Ranger] 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: Independence NHP - An excavation into the home of two presidents and the original executive office is also an excavation of their slaves' quarters. Visitors say that "it speaks to the complicated bond between freedom and slavery, crystallizing a debate about injustice that Americans continue to struggle with." New River Gorge NR - Ranger Randy Fisher received two special award citations at a standing-room-only town hall meeting in Fayetteville on June 7th. Fisher was awarded a special citation from the West Virginia legislature and an additional award citation from the state's governor. 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). --- ### --- |