NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

INCIDENTS

Grand Teton NP

Two Climbers Injured In Sliding Fall On Middle Teton

On Saturday, July 25th, two climbers fell and slid on a patch of snow while descending from the Dike Pinnacle on the south face of the Middle Teton. The climbers, J.L. and C.S., both 25 and residents of Jackson, Wyoming, slid approximately 200 feet on snow and rocky terrain before coming to a stop on a grassy ledge. J.L. sustained serious injuries requiring an evacuation by helicopter while C.S. sustained minor injuries.

Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a call for assistance at 5:22 p.m. from C.S. Park rangers quickly responded from the Jenny Lake Rescue Cache at Lupine Meadows. They were joined by the Teton Interagency contract helicopter, which had been assisting with an extensive search for a missing person near Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park.

The helicopter was able to land relatively near to the grassy ledge and insert three park rangers, who made a short climb to reach the injured climbers. Rangers provided medical care while preparations were made for an expeditious short-haul evacuation of J.L..

J.L. and an attending park ranger were short-hauled from the grassy ledge directly to the rescue cache on the valley floor just before sunset. There, J.L. was transferred to a waiting park ambulance and transported to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson, Wyoming. The helicopter then returned to the site of the accident and short-hauled C.S. and the two remaining rangers to the rescue cache. The rescue mission was completed shortly after 9:00 p.m., just before darkness would have made further operations impossible.

The fall occurred while the two climbers were descending on snow about 400 feet below the summit of the Dike Pinnacle. This type of fall—one that occurs while descending on snow—is a very common cause of mountaineering-related injuries in Grand Teton National Park. Rangers encourage climbers to pay special attention while descending on snow, and to wear helmets whenever moving about in the vertical terrain of the Teton Range where rockfalls, or a slip and fall in rock-strewn areas, can pose a danger.

This rescue was the second helicopter-assisted rescue mission of the day in the park. Rangers also flew a climber who had become ill from the Lower Saddle of the Grand Teton around 7:30 on Saturday morning.

After completing this rescue, the Teton Interagency contract helicopter flew to Yellowstone to assist with the continuing search efforts for the missing person.

[Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Lake Mead NRA

Man Struck And Killed By Boat Propeller

On the afternoon of July 25th, park dispatch received a call reporting that a visitor had been cut by a boat propeller near Cactus Cove.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife and Arizona Game and Fish were first on scene and pronounced the man dead upon arrival.

According to witnesses, the boat's operator accidentally put the boat in reverse and ran over the victim. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department dive team was called in to assist with the recovery.

The National Park Service and Nevada Department of Wildlife are investigating the incident.

[Public Affairs Office]

Upper Delaware S&RR

Man Rescued From Near Drowning

A 55-year-old man from Allentown, Pennsylvania, nearly drowned when his canoe capsized in Butler's Rift on the afternoon of July 20th.

Two men were on a river cleanup when they saw a canoe capsize in Butler's Rift. They quickly paddled over in a canoe to assist the man and his son. The man went unconscious and was under water. The two men helped pull the body out of the water and onto the New York shoreline. Additional family members and the two men on river cleanup performed CPR on the man for approximately five to eight minutes.

The man regained consciousness and was transported down river in a raft. The Sparrowbush Fire Department's boat met the raft by Cherry Island and transported the man to the awaiting Port Jervis ambulance. He was not wearing a life jacket.

[Larry Neal, Acting Chief Ranger]

Buffalo NR

Two Drownings At The Buffalo River

On the afternoon of July 12, 2015 Buffalo National River was contacted by Newton County 911 concerning a possible drowning at the confluence of Well's Creek and Buffalo River. Rescue and medical personnel were dispatch to the area where they located the victim, G.M. III age 23. Mr. M. and his wife had been swimming in the area when he decided to jump from a 15 foot bluff into the river. Mr. M.'s wife heard her husband enter the water but did not see him jump as she was traversing the trail from the bluff to the gravel bar. She lost sight of Mr. M. for a very short period of time but when she saw him again he was floating downstream face down.

She was able to wade into the water and pull him to shore where she began doing CPR. Very soon after she had begun, floaters rounded the bend, recognized the distress and quickly came to her aid. CPR was continued for some time but was unsuccessful and Mr. M. was later pronounced dead at the scene. First on scene was Air Evac helicopter which was able to land on the gravel bar. At this time CPR had been suspended after approximately 30 minutes of continuous cycles which were unsuccessful.

G.M. III was a member of the Western Grove Volunteer Fire Department and leaves behind a wife and baby.

Personnel from Buffalo National River Search and Rescue team, Newton County Sheriff's Office, Hasty Volunteer Fire Department, Tri-County Search and Rescue, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center EMS, Air Evac Lifeteam, Newton County Coroner's Office and the Boone County Coroner's Office assisted.

On the afternoon of July 20, 2015, Searcy County Sheriff's Office contacted the park concerning a possible drowning of a five year old boy at Tyler Bend. Witnesses reported the child had on an inflatable float ring and was wading in a shallow portion of the river when he went under. The boy's older brother alerted his father to the missing boy, who had stepped into a deep hole and slipped out of the float ring. The father was able to locate his son and bring him to shore.

Park Guide Terry Traywick, who is trained in CPR and is a CPR instructor, and Interpretive Ranger Joyce Umbach, responded to the location and found park visitors administering CPR. Terry immediately began assisting with the CPR and coaching the visitors. Off duty Emergency Dispatcher Joe Jones and his spouse were floating the river and came upon the scene and immediately began assisting with CPR. Resuscitation efforts were continued by park personnel until the NorthArk Ambulance arrived. All attempts to revive the boy failed.

Personnel from the Searcy County Sheriff's Office, Park personnel, to include a campground volunteer, park visitors and NorthArk Ambulance Service assisted.

[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):

Saint Croix NSR - Last year, the park worked with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center to place “backpacks” containing geolocators on wood thrush, a neotropical migratory bird suffering serious population loss. In 2015 these birds returned to the exact same locations where they were caught and tagged, demonstrating species connectivity between North America and Latin America.

Business Services - Some of most notable accomplishments in the fields of business and administration last year have been recognized with the awarding of the 2015 Director's Awards for Excellence in Administration and Business Management.

Mississippi NR&RA - Through ongoing use of a variety of volunteers, partnerships, and other resources, park employees have been able to harness the energy of the surrounding community to complete a forest vegetation survey.

Oregon Caves NM - A new park exhibit, designed to be fun for kids and kids at heart, is now open. The exhibit celebrates the centennial vision, especially promoting the “Every Kid in a Park” call to action item.

Midwest Region - Mike Pflaum, a 35-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been selected as the new superintendent of Badlands National Park. Pflaum has served as the superintendent of Keweenaw National Historical Park 2011.

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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