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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, December 18, 2014 INCIDENTS Buffalo NR Injured Climber Rescued In Difficult Nighttime Operation On the afternoon of November 30th, BUFFSAR, the park's search and rescue team, was activated for a high angle search and rescue mission involving a fall in the Ponca Wilderness near the Hemmed-in-Hollow Falls area. C.M., 21, of Ozark, Missouri, was free climbing a vertical cliff when he fell from near the top of the approximately 150-foot-high bluff onto a ledge. He fell approximately 25 feet and landed on a ledge that was the size of a large round dining table. His companion ran up the very steep trail to a point where he had cell phone coverage and called for help. ICS was immediately put in place, with Ranger Melissa Moses as the incident commander. Members of BUFFSAR were split into squads and positioned themselves above and below C.M.. The high angle squad traversed the rim of the canyon along a game trail that mirrors the ledge of the 209-foot-high waterfall. District Ranger Jason Flood rappelled down to him to begin initial treatment while the squad set up the lowering system. As the litter reached the victim, litter attendant Logan Tucker had to wedge himself against the cliff face, as the ledge was too small for an additional person. Due to the height of the cliff, additional rope was added to the lowering system using a fisherman's knot. After packaging C.M., the litter was lowered in a horizontal position approximately 130 feet to a larger ledge and was then converted to a vertical position and lowered the remaining 150 feet through an extremely steep and heavily vegetated slope to the bottom of the bluff. The litter squad took over the operation from there and began the carryout portion of the SAR. The terrain was extremely steep, with the litter team traversing over two-and-a-half miles of trail with a 1500 foot gain in elevation. Low angle belay systems were utilized on several occasions due to the steepness of the terrain. BUFFSAR brought C.M. to the trailhead at approximately 3 a.m. The waiting ambulance took him to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison for initial treatment. Within a matter of a few hours, the weather turned very quickly from a high of 73°F to 33°F, with a wind chill factor of 17°F, and it began sleeting. This rescue, which occurred entirely at night and with rapidly deteriorating weather, was one of the most technically complex rescues in Buffalo National River's history and serves as an excellent example of interagency teamwork. In addition to the Buffalo National River protection rangers and BUFFSAR volunteers, groups participating in this operation included Alpena VFD, Arkansas Forestry Commission, Boone County Sherriff's Office, Carroll County Sherriff's Office Rescue Team, Compton VFD, Harrison Fire Department, Mennonite Disaster Services, National Park Service Fire Module, Newton County Sherriff's Office, North Ark Regional Medical Center Ambulance, Tri-County Search and Rescue, and the Steel Creek Campground Hosts. In all, about 60 people were involved in the operation. Hot food and beverages were provided by the Red Cross to the members of the rescue party, who were more than ready after a major exertion and a 30-degree temperature drop. [Karen Bradford, 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): Yellowstone NP - Visitors to Yellowstone can now track the activity of Old Faithful and five other geysers with a free app that helps them find out when these relatively predictable geysers could erupt. Padre Island NS - On November 28th, members of the public were invited to watch the release of 89 green sea turtles that had been found cold stunned and were subsequently rehabilitated. Canaveral NS - On Monday, December 15th, 22 cold-stunned Kemps Ridley sea turtles from Cape Cod were released from a beach at Canaveral National Seashore. Office of Communications - Cameron (Cam) Sholly has been named regional director for Midwest Region. He has served as the associate director for the Visitor and Resource Protection Directorate since 2012. Harpers Ferry NHP - Gayleen Boyd, administrative officer at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, will be retiring on December 30th with 42 years of service. US Park Police - On November 21st, Captain Keith Rogers was presented with a plaque in appreciation for his dedication and service to Southeast Region. Hopewell Furnace NHS - Superintendent Edie Shean-Hammond will retire on January 3rd after nearly 39 years of service to the National Park Service. 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). --- ### --- |