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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, July 20, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Grand Teton NP Seriously Ill Climber Evacuated From Garnet Canyon Rangers used an interagency contract helicopter to evacuate a seriously ill climber from Garnet Canyon on the evening of Tuesday, July 17th. C.R., 65, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was part of a climbing party attempting to summit the Grand Teton with Exum Mountain Guides when he became too ill to continue climbing. C.R. was experiencing minor gastrointestinal distress on Monday as he hiked to the Lower Saddle (elevation 11,600 feet). He spent the night at the Exum base camp, and on Tuesday morning, the climbing party set out for the summit. C.R. reached the Upper Saddle of the Grand Teton (elevation 13,160 feet) before the combination of altitude, dehydration and fatigue made his symptoms worse. C.R. turned around at that point and headed downhill to wait for the rest of his climbing party. Around 2 p.m., his symptoms worsened, and he became increasingly dehydrated and weak. With the assistance of Exum guides, C.R. slowly made his way towards Garnet Canyon Meadows. After realizing additional assistance would likely be needed, one of the Exum guides walked ahead to alert a park trail crew working in the area at the time. One of the trail crew employees called Teton Interagency Dispatch by radio at approximately 4:30 p.m., and six trail crew employees hiked up to C.R.'s location to provide assistance. Upon reaching C.R., they helped him as he slowly worked his way down the canyon to meet up with park rescue personnel. Due to C.R.'s deteriorating condition and the severity of his symptoms, rangers decided to utilize the interagency contract helicopter for evacuation. Two rangers were flown to Garnet Canyon Meadows at 6:15 p.m. They provided medical care before placing C.R. on the helicopter for a flight to Lupine Meadows, where a park ambulance was waiting to transport him to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment. This marks the seventh major search and rescue operation in Grand Teton National Park this year. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] Yosemite NP Visitor Death On Half Dome Trail Valley rangers received a report of an unconscious and unresponsive man on the Half Dome trail about a half mile up from the Sunrise trail intersection early on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 11th. Off-duty park safety officer Roger Farmer soon arrived on scene and reported that CPR was in progress. Helicopter 551 was immediately requested and flew to the area. Ranger/paramedic Keith Lober and ranger Jason Gayeski-Peters heli-rappelled to the man's location. The victim. J.V., 53, of Lodi, California, was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was short-hauled from the area. The cause of death has not yet been determined. [Leslie Reynolds, Valley District Ranger] Lake Mead NRA Drowning In Lake Mohave The park received an emergency call via marine band radio on the afternoon of July 7th in which a woman reported that her husband had disappeared while swimming in Lake Mohave. Rangers were on scene in about six minutes. The operators of at least four private vessels who heard the emergency call over the radio also responded to the area to help locate the man. About an hour after the initial call for help came in, the victim's body was located by one of the private citizens assisting with the search. Rangers on the NPS dive team and a diver from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recovered his body at about 8 p.m. The man's wife reported that a group of family members and their pet dog had been boating and were swimming in the water. The couple had brought along four nieces and nephews from Los Angeles on their trip. They decided to head back to shore when the wind increased, creating two- to three-foot wavers. When she reached shore, her husband was no longer swimming behind her. Although the children were all wearing life jackets and made it safely to shore, he did not have one on. About 99 percent of the drownings that have occurred in the park could have been prevented if the victims had been wearing life jackets. [Roxanne Dey, Public Affairs 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: NIFC - The National Interagency Fire Center moved to a PL-5 yesterday - its highest preparedness level, reflecting the most severe fire situation - based on the current and expected fire activity throughout much of the West. This move was prompted by large fire activity occurring in several geographic areas and a heavy commitment of crews, aircraft, and equipment to these incidents, along with a forecast for continued hot, dry, windy conditions. 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). --- ### --- |