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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, June 10, 2011 INCIDENTS Blue Ridge Parkway Rangers Conduct “Click It Or Ticket” Seatbelt Campaign Between May 15th and June 3rd, rangers on the Blue Ridge Parkway participated in the third and final wave of enforcement in a “Click it or Ticket” campaign in cooperation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The purpose of the campaign is to conduct high visibility enforcement in hopes of improving seatbelt usage, not only within the boundaries of the park but in local communities as well. A 30-mile stretch of roadway in the area of Roanoke, Virginia, was chosen due to its heavy use by local commuters. In conjunction with enforcement, NHTSA conducted area resident surveys to determine the campaign's effectiveness, as well as observations on the parkway before and after each enforcement wave. In each case, public awareness of NPS law enforcement increased, as did compliance with seatbelt laws, which increased from 82% to over 90% in each case. In the latest wave of enforcement, rangers wrote 145 citations for an array of violations - not only for failure to wear seatbelts, but also for speeding, license and registration violations, and possession of controlled substances. Ranger also made two arrests for DUI and issued warnings for almost 300 other violations. The “Click it or Ticket” campaign is only one aspect of a larger program aimed at motor vehicle collision reduction on Blue Ridge Parkway. Throughout each year, rangers up and down the 469-mile-long parkway conduct several sobriety and safety checkpoints, use motor vehicle collision statistics to support the location of high visibility signage and public information campaigns, and give a traffic safety message during each visitor contact. As a result of these and other efforts, motor vehicle collisions were down 40% in 2010 from 2001. [Lena B. Koschmann, Assistant Chief Ranger] New River Gorge NR Injured Rafter Evacuated On May 30th, rangers received a call from Fayette County dispatch reporting an injured rafter at the Keeney's Creek pool on the New River. Ranger Randy Fisher responded. With the assistance of trip members, the injured woman was evaluated and found to be suffering from a dislocated patella. She was, placed on a backboard and transported to a waiting ambulance. The woman and other members of her party were rafting through Upper Keeney Rapid when the raft tipped to the left. The rafter on the right front of the raft fell to the left, striking the woman. Both of them fell out of the raft, but the woman's foot was caught in the raft as she exited, causing the trauma to her leg. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger] Grand Canyon NP Life Saved Through Use Of AED On the evening of June 7th, dispatch received a 911 call reporting that a man had fallen near Maswik Lodge and was unconscious. Rangers responded and found him unresponsive and pulseless. Bystanders said that he'd clutched his chest and said that he was unable to breathe before he collapsed. CPR was begun and an AED was applied. Following one shock from the AED, the man regained a pulse and began breathing with assistance. The shock was delivered less than five minutes after the initial 911 call was received. The man was transported by ambulance to the South Rim Helibase, transferred to an air ambulance, and flown to Flagstaff Medical Center. [Brett Hergert, Shift Supervisor, South Rim District] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/): Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program - The NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program, the Interpretation and Education Division, the Youth Programs Office, and the Office of Public Health have partnered with Spoke 'N Revolutions Youth Cycling to take a group of diverse high school students from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on an 1800-mile ride along the Underground Railroad. National Partnership Office - The National Park Service is soliciting nominations from employees for the Secretary's “Partners in Conservation Award.” Nominations must be submitted by June 17th. Alaska Region - On Saturday, the NPS will honor seven employees and a charter pilot, most of them members of the Alaska Task Force, who lost their lives in a plane crash nearly 36 years ago during a flight over land that would become part of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Intermountain Region - Denis Davis, superintendent of Utah's Timpanogos Cave National Monument and a 35-year veteran of the NPS, has been named Utah state coordinator. Photo. Intermountain Region - Tom O. Clark, superintendent of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, is now superintendent of the Southern Four Corners Group, which includes Canyon de Chelly, Hubbell Trading Post NHS, and Navajo NM. Photo. Intermountain Region - Lawrence (Larry) Turk has been selected as superintendent of Aztec Ruins National Monument. Photo. Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. The following have been added to this week's calendar - a workshop on communicating climate change at NCTC, a training session on VIP programs, also at NCTC, basic EMT training outside of Big Bend, and several FLETC training classes. * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |