NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
INCIDENTS
Buffalo NR
Injured Man Rescued After Fall From Bluff
Just before midnight on April 3rd, the Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center (MROCC), the park's dispatch office, received a report that a man had fallen from a bluff and was injured. The injury was reported to be in the area of Hemmed-In-Hollow Falls in the Upper District, “the tallest waterfall between the Rockies and the Appalachians” and the site of numerous past search and rescue incidents. Rangers, other park staff, park volunteers, local first responders, and AirEvac medics assembled at the Compton trailhead. Two search teams headed down the trail with a wheeled litter and other rescue equipment and located the 22-year-old victim, T.K. of Bedford, Indiana. T.K. had fallen approximately 50 to 75 feet after attempting to jump from a bluff to a nearby tree and had suffered a broken arm, broken elbow, dislocated hip, broken hip socket, bruised heart, and bruised lung. He also had several deep lacerations causing a significant loss of blood. The rescue teams packaged T.K. in the wheeled litter and transported him toward a suitable landing zone. The trail accessing the falls drops more than 1000 feet and extrication via the trial was impractical. During the transport, low-angle belays were used to traverse the steep and narrow trails. The AirEvac helicopter landed in a deep ravine approximately two-and-a-half miles from the falls, the closest suitable location for a landing. T.K. was transported to the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for treatment. Over 25 people responded to assist with the rescue. Rangers and other SAR team members had completed a three-day swiftwater rescue course the afternoon before the rescue. The course was instructed by Rick Brown, retired NPS assistant chief ranger and chief of field operations at Great Smokies. Brown, who had worked at the Buffalo in the early 1980's, assisted in the rescue. Buffalo National River recently upgraded its radio system, adding several new repeater sites, upgrading both portable and mobile radios, and converting from analog to digital. During the incident, radio communications were exceptional and played a pivotal role in the overall success of the incident. [Lee Brumbaugh, Incident Commander/District Ranger, Middle Buffalo District]
Biscayne NP
Bodies Of Missing Father And Daughter Recovered From Bay
On Sunday, April 5th, P.B. and his eight-year-old daughter T.B. headed out on the bay in their 17-foot vessel with a raft attached to the stern. P.B. had promised to spend a day on the water with his daughter since an earlier trip had to be canceled due to a flat tire on his boat trailer. They left Black Point Marina, located adjacent to the park's boundary, around 4 p.m. Later that night, the Coast Guard was notified that they were overdue. A major air and water search was launched that involved rangers, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officers, Miami-Dade police and fire and rescue personnel and Coral Gables police. P.B.'s vessel was found at daybreak the next day near the mangrove coastline, with the keys in the ignition, the engine off and the shifter in neutral. All his belongings were on board, including life vests. Chief ranger Didier Carod and rangers Jared Brierley, Robert Romer and Evan Pickford searched every corner of the park for P.B. and his daughter with the assistance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents with full diving gear. P.B.'s body was found around noon by a citizen. A second body was spotted nearby from a Coast Guard helicopter and park staff responded. The ICE agents entered the water and recovered eight-year-old T.B.'s body. Autopsies are being performed to determine cause of death. Neither the girl nor the father was wearing a life jacket. [Dider Carod, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
National Park Foundation - Building on the 2008 cause-marketing campaign that became the most successful display of citizen giving to the National Park Foundation in a single day, Macy's and the National Park Foundation are again announcing a partnership to raise awareness and generate funds to support our parks.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7529" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7529
Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - Among the major topics addressed during this year's three-day workshop were the 2009 EMS field manual, centralized EMS credentialing, the implementation of an electronic patient care record, and strategies to enhance program sustainability.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7530" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7530
* * * * *
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
--- ### ---