NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, May 29, 2009
INCIDENTS
Lake Mead NRA
Park Staff Deal With Numerous Memorial Day Weekend Incidents
Once again, ideal weather conditions brought thousands of visitors to the park over the Memorial Day weekend. Park personnel and numerous state and county law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel provided exceptional service to the 135,455 visitors who were recorded over the holiday weekend. Proactive patrols, aggressive enforcement, and educational campaigns for safe boating, water use activities, speed and alcohol, public disorder, and fire prevention were all focus areas for park service personnel. Over the course of the weekend, park personnel responded to nearly 1,000 incidents, including 533 warnings, 201 citations, 35 arrests, 22 medicals, three search and rescue operations, two fatalities and 11,000 visitor contacts. Lake Mead's interagency dispatch center recorded in excess of 13,000 radio and phone calls. Lake Mead's implementation of operational leadership (OL) continues to play a significant role to park operations. Nearly all Lake Mead employees have attended OL training and are actively utilizing OL's key principles. In addition to park wide implementation of OL, superintendent Bill Dickinson rolled out Lake Mead's “101 Days of Summer” campaign prior to the weekend. Recognizing that summertime is a time when visitors tend to be over-anxious and less attentive in their eagerness to enjoy all of their carefully planned events, the park established an interdisciplinary team that focuses on internal and external summer safety messages designed to raise awareness of risks associated with water and shoreline recreation in a desert environment. As we all know from OL, eagerness and inattention can be a tragic combination that contributes to preventable accidents. Primary safety messages over the holiday weekend included the following:
Wear it for life! Life jackets help you survive the unexpected and let you return to enjoy the lake again.
Boat safe. Follow the navigation rules. Maintain a proper lookout. Maintain a safe speed for the conditions.
Boat smart. Watch the weather. It can make lake conditions change rapidly. Make sure your boat has all needed safety equipment.
Boat sober. If you drink, be responsible and don't operate the vessel. Heat and alcohol don't mix.
For more information on operational leadership or the “101 Days of Summer” campaign, please feel free to contact deputy chief ranger Dave Horne at (702) 293-8764. [Mary Hinson, Chief Ranger]
Cape Lookout NS
One Drowns, Two Nearly Drown On Holiday Weekend
Large crowds, windy conditions and rip currents led to high numbers of rescues along North Carolina beaches over the holiday weekend. The park had one probable drowning and two near drownings during the weekend. The first incident occurred on Sunday. J.S., 55, was standing on a sandbar with a female friend about 150 feet off South Core Banks when other visitors noticed that they were having difficulties. One of them, Micah Gunn, got his surfboard, paddled out to the sandbar, got the woman, and brought her to shore. When he returned to get J.S., he was between the sandbar and the beach. He was able to give his name to Gunn, then become unresponsive. Gunn got J.S. onto his surfboard with some difficulty, then headed toward shore. Gunn noted that J.S. quickly turned blue while en route. CPR was begun by park visitors on the beach and continued by responding rangers. An AED was also utilized. Ranger Conan Pelc transported EMS personnel to the island, and ranger Patrick Reidy brought out responding Coast Guard personnel. J.S. was brought to shore, then transferred to an ambulance. He was pronounced dead while en route to the hospital. On Monday, two women, ages 18 and 23, were caught in a rip current in the ocean off South Core Banks. They made it back to shore with difficulty, with visitors helping them get to the beach. Responding rangers found that the women had ingested a lot of water. EMS personnel responded to park headquarters and were transported to South Core Banks in two boats. Both women were taken to the hospital, where the 18-year-old was checked and released and the 23-year-old was held overnight for observation. Both are doing well. [Barry Munyan, Chief Ranger]
Death Valley NP
Suicide Victim Found Near Ibex Dunes
On Saturday, May 23rd, BLM ranger Dave Brenner found an unattended car on Giant Mine Road just outside the park's boundary near the Ibex Dunes area in the southeast corner of the park. A check with dispatch showed that the car belonged to a missing person who was deemed at risk and reportedly armed with a handgun. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed that the man, 52-year-old D.P. of Lancaster, California, had been missing since April 30th. Brenner subsequently found D.P.'s remains on a rock pile. There was a loaded Sig Sauer P229 40 caliber handgun near the body and only one set of tracks leading to that location, which matched the footwear found on the body. The Inyo County coroner later determined that D.P. had died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. GPS coordinates later showed that the body was approximately 150 feet inside the park boundary. D.P. was reportedly despondent over a recent separation and pending divorce. Next of kin notifications were made by the Inyo County Coroner's Office. The Inyo County Sheriff's Department is leading the investigation. [Brent Pennington, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
John F. Kennedy NHS - Today marks John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site's 40th anniversary and the 92nd anniversary of the birth at this site of President John F. Kennedy. A celebration will be held this weekend.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7747" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7747
C&O Canal NHP - Members of the interagency Potomac River Gorge Task Force held an event in the park to emphasize safe enjoyment of the Potomac River. Task force members have worked cooperatively and successfully since 2004 to reduce drownings in that river.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7744" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7744
WASO Public Affairs - Secretary Salazar recently designated 22 trails in 13 states as national recreation trails, adding more than 525 miles of trails to the National Trails System.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PressReleases&id=868" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PressReleases&id=868
NPS/LETC - Land Management Police Training Program Class 903 (LMPT-903) graduated 21 National Park Service rangers from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on May 7th.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2363" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2363
Weekly Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Only one new listing has been added this week - a HAZWOPER first responder session that will be offered at Point Reyes next month.
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=vieweventscalendararticle&type=Conferences&id=1772" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=vieweventscalendararticle&type=Conferences&id=1772
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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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