NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, July 30, 2012

INCIDENTS

Mount Rainier NP

Rangers Challenged By Multiple Same-Day Incidents

Several protracted rescues and other incidents on the afternoon of Saturday, July 21st, challenged park staff. All of the missions were approached incorporating the principles of operational leadership and no injuries to staff were reported:

A 42-year old man who had taken a short fall near the Disappointment Cleaver walked into the Camp Muir high camp in mid-afternoon to seek help from the climbing rangers. They immediately provided care and organized a litter evacuation of the climber down the Muir Snowfield.

Fifteen minutes later, park dispatch received a 911 call from a concerned parent who reported that her 16-year-old son was climbing with a church group on the Muir Snowfield when he fell and hit his head. A second 911 call came in shortly thereafter from a descending climber who reported that he had found the boy on the ground with no one around. The boy was confused but complaining of vision problems, a head injury, and rib pain. This call became the priority for the Camp Muir staff.

With two incidents within the Camp Muir response area, it became clear that local rescue resources would be exceeded. The incidents were combined into to one Type III incident and managed under ICS out of Longmire. The boy was transported by sled and skis about 2,000 feet down the Muir Snowfield to the nearest landing zone. From there he was airlifted by northwest medical helicopters to Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle. Meanwhile, the 42-year-old man was litter evacuated down the 4,000 vertical feet from Camp Muir to Paradise. More than 30 SAR personnel were involved and the missions took over eight hours to complete.

Meanwhile, around 4:30 p.m., park dispatch received a 911 call from a hiker near Tatoosh Lakes outside the park boundary reporting that her companion had injured his arm and head and was bleeding from his leg after falling on steep snow. She also said that he was cold and stuck. The call was transferred to the Lewis County Sheriff's Department, but park resources were offered due the remote location and the severity of reported injuries. A ground and air rescue was launched with Mount Rainier staff and a Coast Guard helicopter. In waning daylight, the man was extricated by the Coast Guard helicopter. Park staff returned to the trailhead and were off duty by midnight.

Finally, just after 8 p.m., ten to twelve rapid fire gunshots were heard in the area just below Paradise. Four law enforcement rangers responded and searched several facilities, but no suspects were found. Visitors and NPS staff from different locations in the Paradise area heard the shots but the persons responsible were not found.

[Eric Gabriel]

Denali NP&P

Three Mountaineers Rescued From Mt. McKinley

Three mountaineers were evacuated from the 17,200-foot high camp on Denali's West Buttress climbing route by the park's contract A-Star B3 helicopter on Thursday, July 26th. Two had sustained leg injuries in an avalanche and were unable to walk.

Danish mountaineers M.P., 26, M.K., 30, and N.B.S., 26, had set out from the high camp on Sunday, July 22nd, for a summit attempt via a non-standard route up the Autobahn, the slope leading from high camp to Denali Pass. They had scouted the route variation the previous day because they were concerned about the high avalanche danger on the standard route. While approaching their intended route up the Autobahn, they triggered an avalanche at approximately 1 p.m. The avalanche swept them from the 17,600 foot elevation several hundred feet down the slope to a point approximately 200 meters from their campsite. M.P., who was relatively uninjured, was able to drag his two companions back to their campsite, where they waited for two days, hoping the injuries would respond to rest and treatment. On Wednesday, July 25th, after determining M.K. and N.B.S. would not be able to walk, the trio called for assistance on an aviation radio, hoping to make contact with an aircraft providing scenic overflights of the mountain. The pilot of a Talkeetna Air Taxi plane heard the call and notified the National Park Service at 11:30 a.m.

The park's A-Star B3 helicopter, which was on assignment in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, returned to Talkeetna and reconfigured for a reconnaissance flight to high camp. After the initial reconnaissance, mountaineering ranger Kevin Wright dropped a bag from the helicopter containing communication devices, food, fuel, and a stove to the group. After establishing two-way communication with the party, rangers confirmed that all three were in stable condition, and that two would not be able to climb out under their own power.

Pilot Andy Hermansky flew to high camp site at 9 a.m. on Thursday and retrieved the climbers in three trips. M.K. and N.B.S. were evacuated via a rescue basket on the end of a 125-foot-long line and the uninjured M.P. was loaded into the helicopter for the trips to Base Camp. The two injured climbers were met by LifeMed helicopters at Base Camp and flown to Mat Su Regional Hospital for treatment.

All registered climbers are now off the mountain. A total of 1,223 attempted the mountain this year and 498 made it to the summit for a summit success percentage of 40.7%. This is the second lowest summit rate in the last 25 years.

[Kris Fister, Public Affairs Officer]

Yellowstone NP

Visitor's Life Saved Through Effective EMS Response

Dispatcher Martha Downing received a 911 call on the evening of July 19th reporting that a 67-year-old man had collapsed in the RV park at Fishing Bridge. The man's wife had witnessed the collapse and quickly began CPR; she also began pounding on the walls of the trailer to gain the attention of people in neighboring campsites. The neighbor who responded was a member of an ambulance company who carried an automated external defibrillator (AED) on his travels and administered multiple shocks.

Law enforcement ranger Morgan Leech, park medic Eric Amundson, paramedics Trenton Harper and Ben Dowdy, and SCA John Hinshaw were among the park's first responders. They provided ALS interventions and were able to restore a pulse. The man was transported to the Lake Clinic and taken by life flight to Eastern Idaho Medical Center. Prior to departing Lake Clinic, he was alert and talking, and the initial report was that he would have no apparent deficits.

A good lesson to take away is that early CPR and AEDs work. The man was not breathing and his heart was not beating on its own for close to twenty minutes.

[Bonnie Schwartz, Deputy Chief Ranger]

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/):

Acadia NP - During the second weekend in July, 61 people contributed 1,419 hours to collect, sort, pin, and identify aquatic insects from streams, ponds, and wetlands around the park as part of the park's tenth annual bioblitz.

C&O Canal NHP - On Saturday, September 8th, a memorial 5K race and walk will take place to remember former colleague and friend Margaret Anderson, who was slain in the line of duty on January 1st.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers activities during the week ending on July 27th.

Southeast Region - Mark Ruggiero, Southeast Region's emergency services coordinator, will soon be leaving the NPS for the US Forest Service in Southeast Arizona.

Southeast Region - Steve McCoy, formerly superintendent of Fort Donelson National Battlefield, is now on duty at Gulf Islands as deputy superintendent.

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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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