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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, July 10, 2014 INCIDENTS Theodore Roosevelt NP Four Backcountry Rescues Conducted On Independence Day Early on the afternoon of July 4th, the park received a cell phone call with a weak signal. Through the series of calls and texts that ensued, it was determined that the caller was a 21-year-old North Dakota man, that there were two other people in his party (a 23-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man), that they were lost in the Achenbach Hills Wilderness Area, and that they were dehydrated and had only 20 milliliters of water left, The temperature at the time was 90 degrees, the humidity was 88%, and there was no wind. Even with GPS coordinates and brightly spread out camping items, attempts to locate the party in the wilderness area were unsuccessful. A hasty team was sent towards the GPS coordinates and a medical helicopter was dispatched from Dickinson, North Dakota. The hasty team located the trio approximately 50 feet from the Achenbach Trail, hiked to them, assessed them, and prepared a landing zone. A determination was made by the flight crew and the NPS EMT that two of them would be taken to the McKenzie County ambulance that was staged two miles away and that they would then pick up the third person and fly him to the hospital in Dickinson. As preparations were being made for the first flight, a second incident occurred when one of the hasty team members fainted due to heat exhaustion and dehydration. The team then determined to fly all the members of the party and the hasty team EMT to the staged ambulance and return to transport the ill NPS employee to the hospital. During these operations a third incident occurred when crew members at the staging area were alerted by a party of four picnickers walking the Achenbach trail about 100 feet below. Members of the party reported that a man in their group was dehydrated and could not make it up the trail. The man weighed approximately 290 pounds and was at the bottom of an 85% slope. A team of approximately 16 people was gathered from the nearby ambulance crew, visitors, and NPS employees and volunteers. Using a wheeled litter and a rope, the team successfully delivered the man to the already staged ambulance. The SAR team was wrapping up operations and was about halfway into their after action review when a fourth incident occurred. North Dakota State Radio 911 dispatch advised they were receiving a series of calls from a cell phone with a weak signal. Through a series of calls and texts, it was determined this caller was a 20-year-old woman from Minot, North Dakota, and that she was hiking with a 20-year-old man, also from Minot. Both were lost in the Achenbach Hills Wilderness Area and dehydrated. The air ambulance was again dispatched from Dickinson and the McKenzie County ambulance returned to the staging area. The woman was instructed to light one of her two signal flares. Spotters at two locations observed the smoke from the flares and directed the air ambulance to the location, which was approximately 200 yards from the Achenbach Trail. Due to the extreme heat and safety-related concerns, the incident commander, chief ranger and superintendent made the determination to close the Achenbach Trail, which remained closed until Sunday, July 6th, when weather conditions improved. A total of 25 people participated in the SAR; operations were completed around 10 p.m. Ranger Ron Sams served as incident commander for three of the incidents and he was assisted by incident commander trainee Jared Thompson for the fourth and final incident. [Dean Wyckoff, Chief Ranger] New River Gorge NR Vandals Caught Through Security Camera Footage During the evening hours on Monday, June 26th, two juveniles broke into the Camp Brookside facility in New River Gorge National River. They did some exterior damage to the caretakers cottage and vandalized a security camera. The pair approached the camera with stealth, correctly estimating the degree of area it was recording, and remained outside the picture. One of the vandals hoisted his companion up to access the camera. As it was being ripped from the mount, the camera recorded a picture of one of the vandals before the signal was lost. Rangers downloaded the photograph from the recorder. The image went up on the Hinton, West Virginia, police department's Facebook page and was broadcast the next evening during the crime stoppers portion of the local news. Rangers were contacted the following day with information on the suspects. The juveniles were interviewed in the presence of their guardians by investigating rangers and confessed to the crime. Both young men were issued mandatory appearance citations for vandalism. Camp Brookside, located on the east bank of the New River between I-64 and Hinton, was once a summer camp sponsored by Union Carbide, later Elkem Metals. Beginning in the late 1940's and continuing through the 1970's, hundreds of local children spent part of their summer vacations at the camp. New River Gorge National River is developing an educational/research center at the historic children's summer camp. It will serve K-12, university students, and life-long learners, with an emphasis on school-based programming and natural and cultural resources research. The center will provide for research and educational opportunities organized around the park's mission, park themes and research needs. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger] 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): Monocacy NB - A ceremony and other activities were held in the park yesterday to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Monocacy, another in a series of events marking the anniversary of the Confederacy's ten-day invasion of Maryland in 1864. Office of Communications - Congressman John Sarbanes joined Director Jarvis and DC Park Prescriptions champion Dr. Robert Zarr yesterday to learn about an innovative program in which doctors prescribe time in nature as a way to help treat chronic diseases such as obesity. Cape Cod NS - On Friday, June 20th, Princess Elettra Marconi visited the park. She is the daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, who made history in 1903 by sending the first transatlantic wireless message from a station that is now in the seashore. Harpers Ferry Center - Harpers Ferry Center has announced the discovery and restoration of an early color-process film of Yellowstone National Park, believed to be the first color footage of the park and Old Faithful Inn. Big Cypress NP - On July 2nd, fire and aviation staff from several South Florida federal land management agencies conducted a safety stand down during the wildland fire community's national week of remembrance. Devil's Postpile NM - Wymond Eckhardt, former ranger and park manager at Devils Postpile National Monument from 1971 to 2000, passed away on June 23rd. 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). --- ### --- |