NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

INCIDENTS

Jewel Cave NM

Young Girl Seriously Injured In Fall

On May 28th, a family from Utah took a guided cave tour with their three-year-old daughter. Upon arriving at an elevated platform at the top of a set of stairs, the mother, who had been carrying the little girl, put the girl down and she promptly ran over to a railing and fell through, landing on an outcrop of the cave wall. Her 18-year-old brother witnessed the fall and unsuccessfully attempted to grab her as she fell. She then slid down the angled wall below the platform, impacting rocks on the way down, and fell a total of about 17 feet, landing on the rocks below. She was taken to the surface by her father and park staff, provided initial BLS stabilization by park EMT's, and transported by ambulance to the Custer Regional Hospital. She was then flown by Life Flight helicopter to Rapid City Regional Hospital, the nearest Level 2 trauma center. The girl suffered a basal skull fracture, a broken nose, cheekbones and jaw, and numerous abrasions and lacerations. On June 1st, she was released from the hospital and is expected to fully recover. The family stopped by the visitor center shortly thereafter to visit park staff. [David Yim]

Little River Canyon NP

Teenager Drowns In Little River

Ranger David Walker was notified by DeKalb County Sheriff's Office dispatch of a possible drowning in the park at Martha's Falls on the evening of June 15th. Walker contacted several agencies for assistance and together they coordinated a recovery operation. Divers found the body of 19-year-old R.P. of Rome, Georgia, in about nine feet of water just before 9 p.m. It was turned over to the county coroner. Investigation revealed that R.P. and his friends had attempted to swim across Little River, but that he'd slipped under the water while doing so. Efforts to find him proved unsuccessful, so a 911 call was made. Assisting in the incident were personnel from Fischer Rescue Squad, Adamsburg Volunteer Fire Department, DeKalb Ambulance Service, Cherokee County Rescue Squad, and Alabama Highway Patrol. [Troy Mueller, 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/):

Bandelier NM - Alcove House, a significant but difficult to access cultural site within the park, is being repaired through the efforts of staff members from several divisions - and with the assistance of a contract helicopter that is delivering building materials to the location via a 150-foot long line.

Office of Communications - According to a new NPS report, the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program has helped generate $66 billion ($106 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars) in private investment in historic rehabilitation over the program's 35 years.

Fire and Aviation Management - A memo has been issued announcing a strategic communication plan intended to facilitate communication between NPS leadership and the wildland fire workforce. Details are also included on a series of related webcasts, the first of which will be held today.

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

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