NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, September 15, 2014

INCIDENTS

Upper Delaware S&RR/Delaware Water Gap NRA

Massive Manhunt Underway For State Trooper's Killer

A major multi-agency manhunt is currently underway for the person or persons who ambushed and killed a Pennsylvania state trooper and seriously wounded another outside the Blooming Grove barracks in Pike County in northeast Pennsylvania.

Troopers from Blooming Grove work closely with rangers from both Upper Delaware S&RR and Delaware Water Gap NRA, both of which are partly in Pike County.

The NPS has been in touch with incident managers at the Pennsylvania State Police command post and notified them of the availability of rangers and an NPS special agent. At present, however, they are not actively engaged in the search.

Rangers in both parks have been advised to exercise extra caution both on and off duty.

[Joe Hinkes, Chief Ranger, Upper Delaware S&RR]

Grand Teton NP

Three Lives Saved Over Six Days

Rangers and park paramedics saved the lives of three people - two visitors and a concession employee - over the course of a six-day period.

On August 30th, a 64-year-old visitor from California who was staying at the Jackson Lake Lodge was reported to be in distress and experiencing chest pains. Prior to the arrival of rangers, he lost consciousness and suffered a cardiac arrest. Grand Teton Lodge Company security officers and bystanders began CPR immediately; arriving rangers and paramedics then used an AED to restore a heart rhythm.

Utilizing a LifePak cardiac monitor, paramedics recognized that the patient had suffered a massive heart attack and arranged for medical evacuation by air ambulance to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he is reported to be in a stable condition.

On September 2nd, a 20-year-old concession employee was reported to be unresponsive in his dormitory room. Responding rangers found him lying face down on the floor with a compromised airway. Although he was breathing, he remained unresponsive and had obviously consumed an inordinate amount of alcohol. He had been aspirating liquids, thereby requiring park paramedics to intubate him and utilize a portable transport ventilator.

He was taken to St. John's Hospital in Jackson and admitted. Once he was stabilized by the hospital staff, the breathing tube was removed and he was subsequently discharged from treatment - but he has been charged with several offenses, including being intoxicated to such a degree that he was a danger to himself.

As reported previously in this publication, rangers responded on September 4th to a report of an unconscious 80-year-old kayaker on the Snake River. The emergency care and treatment provided by the first on-scene Colorado firefighters and responding rangers and park paramedics were successful; although he remains in intensive care, he is responsive and expected to recover.

[Patrick W. Hattaway, North District Ranger]

Yellowstone NP

Two Stricken Visitors Resuscitated On Same Day

Just after 8:30 a.m. on September 10th, park dispatch received a report of a woman in her 70s experiencing difficulty breathing at the Grant Village campground. Rangers and volunteers were dispatched to her location. By the time they arrived, her heart had stopped.

Ranger/paramedic Bob Elliott took charge of providing care while an air ambulance responded. CPR and other advanced life support measures were employed to restore the woman's pulse.

Due to weather conditions, she was taken by park ambulance toward the park's south entrance and then transferred to an Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center medevac helicopter at Flagg Ranch and flown to St. Johns Hospital in Jackson.

Later that afternoon, rangers were dispatched to a report of an 80-year-old man who was choking in the Tower-Roosevelt area. Minutes after the man collapsed, visitors and Xanterra concession staff began CPR and called for help.

EMT/rangers quickly responded to the man's location down a two-mile-long dirt. Rangers Tom Schwartz and Matt Lussier provided patient care. The man soon regained a pulse and began breathing on his own. He was taken by ambulance to a location where he could be picked up by Summit Air Ambulance and flown to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital.

Rangers and NPS medics responded to a total of nine medical calls on September 10th. Six of the nine were related to cardiac problems, including these two CPR calls.

[Bonnie Schwartz, Acting Chief Ranger]

Mount Rainier NP

Motorcyclist Killed On Stevens Canyon Road

Park rangers responded to a motorcycle accident on the east end of Stevens Canyon Road on Thursday, September 11th.

There were no witnesses to the accident, although the victim was riding with friends when he went off the road at a hairpin turn. Park climbing rangers conducted the technical recovery of the man's body.

Washington State Patrol officers are assisting with the investigation. Quincy Maret was the incident commander.

[Patti Wold, PIO]

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):

Flight 93 NM - Flight 93 National Memorial honored the 40 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 on the thirteenth anniversary of 9/11 with an annual observance ceremony on Thursday, September 11th.

Today's Almanac - Frost and freeze warnings are up in northern tier states, while southwestern California is under a heat advisory. Category 3 Hurricane Odile is tracking up Baja California and may bring heavy rain to the Southwest by week's end.

Isle Royale NP - Park divers at Isle Royale National Park recently completed shipwreck surveys on two wrecks in Passage Island cove, a remote island in the northeast corner of the park.

US Park Police - On Friday, September 5th, the United Stated Park Police held an awards ceremony recognizing and honoring FLIR Systems, Inc. for its dedicated service.

Fire and Aviation Management - Twelve NPS stories have been submitted to DOI's Office of Wildland Fire that meet the cohesive strategy goals for fire-adapted communities, response to wildfire, and maintaining and restoring resilient landscapes.

Weekly Legislative Activities Report - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the Service. This report covers activities in Congress for the week ending September 12th.

Office of Learning and Development - The Office of Learning and Development has announced the 2014 Roger Kennedy Fellowship recipients - Michele Hartley, a media accessibility coordinator at Harpers Ferry, and Gregory Hindsley, a historic preservationist in the Washington Office.

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).

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