NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

INCIDENTS

Rocky Mountain NP

Three Significant Incidents Occur On Same Afternoon

Rangers dealt with three significant incidents within a little over three hours on the afternoon of Monday, September 12th. Just after 3 p.m., a caller reported that a 60-year-old woman from Texas had taken a 15-foot tumbling fall at Sky Pond while hiking with a family member. It was later determined that she was actually at Lake of Glass, which is four-and-a-half miles from the Bear Lake trailhead. Two visitors stayed with her until rangers arrived about two hours later. They found that the woman had suffered several traumatic injuries. They got her to a landing area on the east side of Lake of Glass, where she was picked up by a St. Anthony Flight for Life helicopter and taken to that hospital, which is in Denver. While this response was underway, dispatch was notified by park staff of a 61-year-old man who was having a severe food allergy reaction near the bridge at Bear Lake. Rangers reached him within 15 minutes and were soon joined by an ambulance and paramedics from Estes Park Medical Center. The man was treated on scene and declined to be taken by ambulance from the area. Then, at 6:30 p.m. rangers learned that a 55-year-old Ohio man had fallen into the water near Alberta Falls. One family member ran to the Bear Lake trailhead for assistance while another helped him down the trail until he could no longer proceed. Park rangers reached him about ten minutes later. They found that he's suffered numerous injuries and was hypothermic from falling in the water. An ambulance and paramedics from Estes Park Medical Center also responded. The man was brought down the trail by a park litter team, which had staged for the first incident, and reached the Bear Lake Road just before 9 p.m. He was then taken by ambulance to the Estes Park Medical Center. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Specialist]

Grand Canyon NP

Kansas Man Dies In Colorado River

Park dispatch received a call from a private river runner via satellite phone on Sunday afternoon reporting a fatality on the Colorado River near Lava Falls. A medic and two investigators flew to the scene by helicopter and found the private river party and the man's body about a mile below Lava Falls. Participants on the river trip reported that two men had been washed out of their boat at Lava Falls. One man made it to safety, but the second man, later identified as 64-year old G.A. from Leavenworth, Kansas, was swept downriver. Participants on another boat in the group were able to intercept G.A. They said that he was able to hold onto the side of their boat for a short period of time before becoming dislodged. He told them that he was okay, though, and would swim to shore. They temporarily lost sight of him, but then found him floating face down less than a mile downriver. His lifejacket was up over his head. Group members pulled him out of the water and brought him to shore, where they started CPR. After 20 minutes, CPR was stopped and the called was placed to the park. G.A.'s body was flown by helicopter to the South Rim and then transferred to the Coconino County medical examiner. An investigation into his death is underway. [Maureen Oltrogge, 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/):

Office of Communications - This summer, two specialists from the National Park Service's Heritage Documentation Program flew to Afghanistan to document “The Towers of Victory” - two towers that represent the last vestiges of the great Ghaznavid Empire.

Natural Resources Program Center - Seventeen students with mixed hearing abilities participated in the first ever “Sound Academy” at Grand Canyon National Park this past month. Photo.

John Day Fossil Beds NM - A new fossil find that came about through a partnership between the NPS and BLM represents the earliest record of living beavers in North America. Photo.

Public Health Service - In October, the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will host Dr. David Wong, a board-certified pediatrician and epidemiologist from the NPS Office of Public Health, for a One Health one-month sabbatical.

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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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