|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, May 13, 2014 INCIDENTS Death Valley NP Park Staff Respond To Mass Casualty Incident On Sunday, April 27th, rangers received a report of a single vehicle rollover accident on Scotty's Castle Road just south of the unstaffed Grapevine Ranger Station. A ranger in Furnace Creek, located an hour south of the accident scene, responded to the call and began requesting assistance from off-duty rangers and personnel from outside the park for a mutual aid response. Two rangers returning from an assault in the Saline Valley, two hours west, began responding as well. The Furnace Creek ranger was able to contact interpreters working in Scotty's Castle who responded in an NPS ambulance staffed at the First Responder level. When the interpreters arrived on scene, they saw victims being triaged by other visitors outside of the ranger station and later learned that the latter were active and reserve military personnel who were on vacation in the park. The five victims had severe burns to their faces, arms, legs and feet, with possible broken bones and one head injury. As rangers arrived on scene, they began coordinating with Mercy Air Ambulance for helicopter evacuations. Additional help in the form of local volunteer fire and ambulance companies from Nevada, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers, and sheriff's deputies from Nevada and California soon arrived on scene. Responders were able to triage and evacuate four of the injured by helicopter. The fifth was determined to be stable and was taken by ground ambulance to University Medical Center in Las Vegas. A total of ten agencies from two states responded to the mass casualty incident. CHP is taking the lead in investigating the traffic collision. [J.D. Updegraff, District Ranger] Lake Mead NRA Search In Progress For Missing Swimmer A search is underway for a missing 45-year-old man who was last seen in Lake Mead near Castle Reef in Boulder Basin last Saturday. Park dispatch received a 911 call that afternoon reporting that the man had disappeared underwater and that he'd been struggling while swimming. He was not wearing a lifejacket. The park and Nevada Department of Wildlife began an immediate search from the point where he was last seen. Around7:15 p.m., efforts were suspended due to unsafe weather conditions. Winds were gusting at 20-30 miles per hour. Search efforts resumed on Sunday and continued yesterday. The incident is under investigation. [Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Horseshoe Bend NMP - Over 7,000 visitors braved sometimes rainy conditions and attended events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend at the park and at Auburn University over the last weeks of March. Climate Change Response Program - The National Park Service will soon launch an effort to articulate the vision and develop the content for the National Interpretive Plan on Climate Change Communication. Those interested in participating are asked to apply by May 23rd. Castillo de San Marcos NM - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island visited several area national parks last month as part of an official tour investigating the potential impacts of climate change on public lands. Harry S Truman NHS - A park program that familiarizes young students nicknamed “Arrowheads” with President Truman's life and educates them on how parks are managed is now in the third of five years. Cane River Creole NHP - To commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War's Red River Campaign, Cane River Creole NHP hosted an academic roundtable and living history event in early May. Mesa Verde NP - Preston Fisher is retiring after 13 years as the Vanishing Treasures Program's structural engineer and a 32-year government career. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is 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). --- ### --- |