NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, September 16, 2011

INCIDENTS

Petrified Forest NP

Two Visitors Hit And Injured By Lightning

On August 23rd, park dispatch received a report of a visitor having been struck by lightning on the Crystal Forest trail. Park protection staff responded and found that two visitors - a 58-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy - had either been struck directly or indirectly by a lightning strike. The man remembered running with the boy back to the parking lot to get away from the heavy rain and lightning. He next remembered lying on the ground with several lacerations to his head and face. The boy was in pain and unable to speak. His ball cap and shoe were shredded by the strike. Air evacuation was not possible due to the electrical storm, so they were transported by ground ambulance to a helicopter outside of Holbrook, Arizona, and flown from there to Flagstaff Medical Center. The boy improved and was able to start limited verbal communication after receiving pain medication on the ambulance. This was the first reported lightning strike injury at the park in over ten years. [Greg Caffey, Chief Ranger]

Grand Canyon NP

Park EMS Staff Successfully Revive Visitor

Park emergency responders were paged out for a cardiac arrest event near the Bright Angel trailhead on the South Rim around 7 a.m. on September 11th. An 81-year-old visitor was preparing to depart on a day mule ride down the Bright Angel Trail when he collapsed. Bystanders, including a physician and former paramedic, found him unresponsive and immediately began CPR. They were relieved by park EMS providers within a few minutes. The man was quickly defibrillated and advanced life support care was initiated. Within a few minutes of resuscitation attempts he spontaneously resumed circulation. He was stabilized by EMS providers and later transferred to a Classic Lifeguard aeromedical helicopter for transport to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he is expected to make a full recovery. [Ken Phillips, Chief, Emergency Services]

Lake Mead NRA

Young Boy Succumbs In Probable Drowning

On the afternoon of September 11th, E.C.-D., five, who was visiting the park with his family and others, was playing in shallow water on the lakeshore in the Government Wash area when he disappeared. Rangers were notified of the incident around 3 p.m., but the caller didn't know exactly where they were in the park. It took rangers about 35 minutes to locate them. Members of the party said that part of their group went off to another cove to fish and swim, leaving the boy with his mother. A man from the group returned and noticed that the boy wasn't around and he asked the mother if she knew where he was. It was at that point that they realized he might be underwater. The man donned goggles, began searching underwater, and located the boy's body minutes later. CPR was attempted but wasn't successful. Investigators believe the boy had been underwater between 20 and 40 minutes when found. “What is most tragic about this is that the mother had a life jacket for the boy,” said ranger Prashant Lotwala. “She thought it wasn't needed because he wasn't in deep water and she could watch him.” The Clark County Corner will determine the official cause of death. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Specialist]

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/):

Olympic NP - The launching of the process for removing two dams from the Elwha River - the largest dam removal project in U.S. history - begins tomorrow morning and will be broadcast online.

Office of Communications - Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, the place where labor leader Cesar Chavez lived and led the farm worker movement during his last 22 years, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Risk Management Division - Three NPS employees recently were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the NPS Operational Leadership Program. Photos.

Northeast Region - Michael Quijano-West has been selected as superintendent of Salem Maritime NHS and Saugus Iron Works NHS. He will assume his new duties in November. Photo.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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