NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

INCIDENTS

Shenandoah NP

Heat Stroke Victim Rescued From Backcountry

On July 7th, park PSAR (preventive search and rescue) staff received a report of a 24-year-old hiker in distress on the Saddle Trail portion of the popular Old Rag Mountain circuit. Arriving EMS personnel found that she was unconscious and showing signs of the latter stages of heat stroke and that she needed rapid extrication from the backcountry. Temperatures in the park at the time were in the upper 90's with high humidity, which both exacerbated the woman's illness and hindered rescue efforts. Old Rag is a challenging hike, particularly on a hot day with the rock scramble portion of the hike offering little shade during the midday heat. The evacuation via wheeled litter took over two hours, during which EMS staff provided constant care. The woman was flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where she's expected to recover fully. [Lora Peppers, District Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Mountain Climber Dies In Fall On Middle Teton

A climber fell to his death on the Middle Teton last Sunday afternoon. J.B., 27, of Benicia, California, had summited the 12,804-foot mountain with two partners and the three climbers were beginning their descent when the accident occurred. Another group of climbers near the summit of Middle Teton saw J.B. fall toward the Northwest Couloir side of the ridge that separates it from the Southwest Couloir. They hailed J.B.'s companions, who were already working their way down from the summit via the Southwest Couloir, and alerted them to what had happened. J.B.'s climbing partners did not witness the accident, but upon hearing of his fall, they tried to catch sight of him down the Northwest Couloir. They yelled out his name in hopes of getting a response, but received no answer in return. A member of the climbing party that witnessed J.B.'s fall called the Jenny Lake Ranger Station directly by cell phone to notify rangers of the accident. Rangers immediately began to mobilize a response, and summoned a Teton interagency contract helicopter to conduct an aerial reconnaissance flight in order to ascertain J.B.'s location. Rangers saw J.B. during that overflight and determined that he likely suffered fatal injuries in a fall of approximately 1,000 feet. An approaching thunderstorm forced the ship to land and wait for better weather. Unfortunately, the storm worsened, causing rangers to postpone their attempt to reach J.B.. An off-duty ranger at the Lower Saddle hiked to a high point where he could view J.B. Due to weather conditions, rock fall, and the nature of the terrain, if was unsafe for him to attempt to reach the victim in the couloir. Rangers made preparations to reach J.B.'s body on Monday morning when favorable weather and more stable environmental conditions would likely allow rescue personnel to safely access the steep and loose-rock terrain of the Northwest Couloir, but heavy fog delayed the recovery effort. Around 10:30 a.m., four rangers were inserted by helicopter to the landing zone at the Lower Saddle of the Grand Teton. They climbed to where J.B. came to rest after his fall and prepared his body for evacuation from the peak. J.B. carried an ice axe with him on the climb, but was not wearing a helmet. This marks the fourth fatality in the Teton Range this year. Two backcountry skiers were killed in an avalanche on Ranger Peak on March 7th and a climber fell to his death on Teewinot on July 12th. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

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/):

Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - The Branch of Emergency Services has released FM-51P, Emergency Medical Services Paramedic Protocols and Procedures, the agency's first national protocols for advanced care and life support for paramedics.

Bighorn Canyon NRA - The Kane Day Celebration, held on June 9th, marked the beginning of a partnership between the Lovell Kane Area Museum, the community, and NPS to preserve Kane Cemetery and the stories of Kane, a community whose residents were forced to move due to the filling of Bighorn Lake after Yellowtail Dam's completion in the 1960s.

Office of International Affairs - A report on the World Heritage Committee's 36th session, recently held in Russia, is now out and available online. The committee added 26 cultural and natural sites to the World Heritage List, bringing the total number of sites on the list to 962.

Chickasaw NRA - Emily Clark recently received the Oklahoma Federal Executive Board's outstanding community service award for saving the lives of an entire family she found sleeping in their home during a fire that destroyed their residence. 

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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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