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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, September 26, 2014 INCIDENTS United States Park Police Eagle 2 Crew Makes Two Same-Day Rescues On September 1st, USPP Lieutenant Simeon Klebaner and Ranger Michelle Schonzeit went hiking on Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park when they came upon a severely injured hiker. While attempting to help the hiker out of the backcountry, they became concerned that wet terrain and potential storms would impede them in their efforts and might also cause additional injury to the victim. Klebaner accordingly contacted the Park Police Aviation Unit and asked for a helicopter extrication. Pilot Officer Evasick and Rescue Technicians Sergeant Tolson and Sergeant Robbins responded in Eagle Two and conducted a hoist rescue of the injured hiker. Once the injured hiker was safely delivered to the hospital, U.S. Park Police units responded to a call of an injured 12-year-old with a traumatic leg injury on the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls Park. Eagle Two headed to that location, where they mad another hoist rescue. The Aviation Unit has completed 16 hoist rescues since this past January, surpassing 2013's ten hoist rescues conducted throughout the course of the year. [Sergeant Lelani Woods, Public Information Officer] Ozark NSR Rangers Respond To Multiple Incidents Park staff were involved in several incident responses over a three-day period last week, including a technical rescue coordinated by the park's SAR Team (Ozark NSR Hellbenders) and a boating accident resulting in a fatality. Early on the afternoon of September 17th, rangers were notified of the need for a possible rescue in the Blair's Creek area for a 22-year-old man who'd fallen from a cliff. Knowing this area was extremely remote and hard to access, rangers responded with technical rescue equipment. They attempted to gain additional information while en route to determine if this incident was inside the park, but were only able to determine that the victim was unconscious and located about "100 feet up the hill." Lack of a specific location and deteriorating weather conditions due to localized heavy rain indicated multiple possibilities for access and extrication of the victim. Additional rangers with rescue boats, ATVs, and four wheel drive vehicles were dispatched to the area. Rangers Chris Figge and Nick Money first arrived on scene and determined the incident was on private property about a quarter mile from the park's boundary. The injured man was unconscious and non-responsive. Local first responders and rangers were able to reach him by walking in. Due to the muddy conditions and the treacherous terrain, a decision was made to lower him to the ground (approximately 50 feet below), which could be accessed by vehicles. Responders packaged and lowered him to Reynolds County paramedics, who took over patient care. The man remains hospitalized. At the time of the incident, a film crew from Animal Planet was on site filming for an upcoming reality TV show called "Emerald Earth" which features "Homesteaders." They were filming the residents in a privately owned cave. The victim was climbing the bluff outside the cave when he fell approximately 50 feet. Figge was IC for the incident. Just after 11 p.m. on September 20th, rangers were notified of a boating accident that had resulted in a drowning of a 74-year-old local man. An off-duty state trooper who was on scene reported that a boat had capsized after hitting a log while gigging (fishing) and that four people were in the water. Other giggers and campers attempted to reach the scene, but access was difficult. Twenty minutes passed before they were able to rescue three of the four from the cold waters of the Current River. The fourth person was located on the bottom of the river in a deep hole at the base of a root wad. Several attempts were made to recover the victim, but were not successful due to the depth of the water. The first arriving ranger was advised that the victim had been recovered and was being transported by boat a short distance to the Pin Oak Campground. The investigation remains open and is being conducted in cooperation with the Missouri Highway Patrol. Lindel Gregory was the incident commander. [Dawn White] Gauley River NRA Injured Boaters Evacuated During Gauley Fest Weekend Rangers responded to a flurry of injured whitewater boaters requesting evacuation from the Gauley River last Saturday morning. At the time, a number of rangers were already committed to handling the large volume of boater traffic that was headed into the Tailwaters parking area and boat launch. Within a span of about ten minutes, rangers were advised of three injured boaters needing attention. Off-duty ranger Stan Wilson responded from his nearby residence and coordinated the evacuation of two boaters from the confluence of the Gauley and Meadow Rivers along with members of the Ansted VFD and a local ambulance service. Both boaters were commercial rafting company customers. One was suffering from a knee injury believed to be a dislocation, and the other was suffering from a probable broken femur. Both injuries were stabilized on site. Wilson then used the parks UTV to transport them to waiting ambulances which took them to local hospitals. A third boater with a minor injury walked out without NPS assistance. Gauley River rafting season visitation peaked on Saturday, September 20th, during the Gauley Fest weekend, an American Whitewater-sponsored paddling festival believed to be the largest such festival in the world. There are three weekends left in the season, which ends October 19th. [Chuck Noll, Law Enforcement Specialist] 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): Office of Communications - The 21st annual National Public Lands Day will be celebrated nationwide tomorrow with free admission to parks, special activities, and volunteer work projects. Last year, about 175,000 volunteers donated their time to improving public lands across the country. Park Facility Management Division - The National Park Service recently announced the recipients of its 2014 Environmental Achievement Awards, which honor outstanding accomplishments in the preservation and protection of park resources. Intermountain Region - Bighorn Canyon NRA and Little Bighorn Battlefield NM staff collaborated on a successful 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance project in Montana. National Capital Region - Gopaul Noojibail, a 15-year veteran of federal service, has been promoted to superintendent of several national parks in Washington, D.C., administered as National Capital Parks East. Servicewide Training Calendar - The following have been added to this week's calendar - two sessions of a wildlife field anesthesia training course, a deadline for proposals for the 2015 George Wright Society Conference next March, and two offerings of a Servicewide webinar entitled “Your LGBT Co-Workers and Visitors: What They Worry About and How You Can Help.” 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). --- ### --- |