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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, November 27, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Yosemite NP Climber Seriously Injured In Fall On Royal Arches Route On the evening of Tuesday, November 20th, Valley District rangers received a report of an injured climber on the second pitch of the Royal Arches climbing route. The climber, M.S., had taken an estimated 50- to 80-foot fall while rappelling. M.S. was off the standard descent rappel route and was trying to reach an anchor that was just below her and out of the reach of her rappel rope when she fell. She was aware that she was near the very end of the rope and was attempting to clip into an off route rappel anchor when the accident occurred. M.S. came to rest on a boulder-strewn ledge 200 foot above the ground. She was critically injured in the fall, sustaining a C2-C3 fracture and a pneumothorax. The fall was evidently partially arrested by her rappel rope being pulled through the system as she fell. Members of her climbing party descended to report the accident. M.S. was packaged in a vacuum body splint and lowered 200 feet to the ground, where she was received by a carryout team. She was flown out to a trauma center in Modesto later that evening. [Keith Lober, Emergency Services Coordinator] Yellowstone NP University Student Killed In Head-On Accident A Montana State University student was killed in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 191 late Sunday afternoon. Jeffrey Korba was traveling north on the highway in his Subaru when it collided with a southbound Dodge Ram pickup truck. The accident occurred shortly before 5 p.m. between Big Sky and West Yellowstone. The 19-year-old student, who is from Califon, New Jersey, was declared dead at the scene. Both of the occupants of the pickup were injured in the accident. A 34-year-old man was taken by an Air Idaho Rescue helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. His wife, also in her 30s, was transported to Idaho Falls by ambulance. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. The pavement was bare and dry at the time. Korba was wearing his seat belt. Rangers were assisted by personnel from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, West Yellowstone Fire and Rescue, Big Sky Fire and Rescue, and the Montana Highway Patrol. [Public Affairs]
OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external): Steamtown NHS - The Canadian Pacific Railway's U.S. Holiday Train is headed out on its annual goodwill journey for food shelves across the U.S. Northeast and Upper Midwest. The first stop will be at the park this coming Saturday. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6003" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6003 Shenandoah NP - Shenandoah National Park will begin a year-long road construction project on Skyline Drive this week. The portion of the drive between Thornton Gap and Swift Run Gap will be reconstructed. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6011" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6011 Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - The comment period for RM-55, the draft reference manual on the NPS incident management program, closes on Friday, November 30th. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6013" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6013 Concessions - Supporting Director Bomar's goal to make the National Park Service one of the top ten places to work in America, the Service's concession program recently unveiled its human capital strategy for concessions management. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6010" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6010 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-686-3828). --- ### --- |