NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

INCIDENTS

Zion NP

Injured Climber Rescued Following Fall

On Saturday, May 9th, rescuers responded to a climbing accident near the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. A 27-year-old man was on a route known as “Feast of Snakes,” which is located on the Pine Creek Canyon wall directly below the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, when the fall occurred. He had placed an anchor at the top of the route and was cleaning gear while being lowered by his partner, who was using a GriGri climbing device at the bottom of the climb. The rope being used by the climbers was too short for the slingshot belay technique and the end of the rope went through the GriGri, dropping the climber 20 feet onto his neck and back on a ledge below the route. Due to the steep terrain and loose footing, along with the mechanism of injury, rescuers called for a helicopter for a winch extrication. The rescuers had to first perform a technical lowering to move the climber from the ledge. An additional low-angle technical raising, followed by a low-angle lowering, were performed before carrying the patient to an open area away from the canyon walls. A Blackhawk from Nellis Air Force Base extricated the man and flew him to a waiting ambulance at the Coal Pits helispot. He was then taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with C-1, T-1 and T-5 fractures along with a lacerated spleen. About 25 park personnel were involved in the rescue. [Therese Picard, IC]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Gateway NRA - Park staff and volunteers joined together to plant a thousand trees last month as part of an ambitious program to plant a million new trees in New York City's five boroughs over the next decade.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7668" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7668

US Park Police - Chief Salvatore Lauro has presented the United States Park Police Lifesaving Award to aviation rescue technician/officer Timothy Ryan.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2344" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2344

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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).

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