NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
INCIDENT
Grand Canyon NP
Park Resident Rescued After Fall
A resident of Grand Canyon National Park was rescued via short-haul yesterday morning after suffering a fall during a recreational climb of Newton Butte. On Monday evening, rangers received notification that a man had been injured in a fall at the butte, which is located about a mile and a half north of Shoshone Point. Due to quickly diminishing light conditions and the treacherous nature of the route to his location, a decision was made to send in a ranger/paramedic to stabilize the man and make him as comfortable as possible until a full-scale rescue could be launched in the morning. Upon arriving at the scene, the ranger/paramedic found that the 33-year-old man had fallen approximately 50 feet and sustained non-life-threatening injuries to both legs. On Tuesday morning, supplies were flown in by the park's helicopter so that the ranger/paramedic could prepare the man for transport. The patient and ranger were then short-hauled to the canyon rim. From there, the injured man was transported via park ambulance to meet a Guardian Medical Transport ambulance for final transport to Flagstaff Medical Center. The park has commended the man's climbing partner, who made his friend as comfortable as possible, supplying him with as much gear as he could spare before hiking out to get assistance. He then led the ranger/paramedic back to the man's location in the dark along a treacherous route. Park helitack and trail crew members as well as park ranger staff participated in this rescue operation. To see video clips of the rescue, click on the link below. [Maureen Oltrogge, Public Affairs Officer]
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/news-2009-07-07-short-haul.htm" http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/news-2009-07-07-short-haul.htm
Independence NHP
Assault On Ranger Leads To Jail Term
Protection ranger David Hynes was on patrol near park headquarters around midnight on April 2nd when he saw a man - subsequently identified as R.L. - bend over and pick up a medium-sized rock, then throw it at a park-owned vehicle, shattering the driver's side window. When Hynes approached him, R.L. ran. A citizen joined Hynes in pursing R.L. and both soon caught up with him. R.L. was ordered to the ground, but instead assumed a fighting stance - he balled up his fists, held up his arms, got up on the balls of his feet, and said “I ain't going down.” Hynes got out his baton and again told him to get on the ground. R.L. again refused and resumed running. When Hynes caught up with him, R.L. attempted to punch him in the head. Hynes side-stepped, struck R.L. in the right forearm with his baton, and once more ordered him down. This time R.L. did so, but soon began trying to get up and began wrestling with Hynes. Hynes and the citizen worked together to keep him down, but R.L. rolled on his back, keeping his hands under himself so he couldn't be handcuffed. Hynes used his baton as a bar, pushing R.L. down. At one point, R.L. grabbed onto it and pushed it into Hynes, but Hynes regained control of the baton and got R.L. onto his stomach and handcuffed him with the citizen's assistance. R.L. was arrested, and, upon consultation with the U.S. Attorney's Office, charged with assault on a federal officer (18 USC 111) and damage to government property. He was booked into a federal jail and remained there until his sentencing on June 23rd. As part of a plea agreement, R.L. pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and property damage. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $200 for the damaged government vehicle window. [Don Reed, Law Enforcement Specialist]
Canyon de Chelly NM
Teenager Rescued From Ledge Below Canyon Rim
On Monday, June 29th, Navajo police received a cell phone call from a person stuck on a ledge in Canyon de Chelly. They notified monument staff and rangers began a search along the canyon rim. After a short time, they found a local teenage boy who had fallen and become stranded on a ledge approximately 40 feet below the rim east of an area known as Tunnel Canyon. The distance to the canyon bottom below the ledge on which the boy was stuck is approximately 300 feet. Park rangers and watershed crew members responded with Navajo police officers and medical personnel from Indian Health Services. Park rescue personnel setup a rappel belay to reach the boy. A 3:1 rig pulley system was employed to bring him back up to the canyon rim, where he was transported to the Chinle Hospital by ambulance. Earlier this year, Grand Canyon staff provided technical rope training for Canyon de Chelly personnel, Navajo Police Department officers, and Chinle Fire Department personnel, and the two parks have been working together to provide additional training to develop a SAR team at Canyon de Chelly. This is the second rope rescue that park personnel have done in two weeks. [Chief Rangers Office]
Chickasaw NRA
Man Dies After Attempting To Save Drowning Child
Members of a group swimming in a stream near Veterans Lake Creek on the afternoon of June 29th reported than an eight-year-old girl was having difficulty swimming. G.G., 32, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, went into the water to assist the young girl, but soon got into trouble himself. Bystanders pulled G.B. from the water and CPR was begun on him when emergency personnel arrived on scene. Murray County EMS transported G.B. to Arbuckle Memorial Hospital, where hospital staff pronounced him dead shortly after his arrival. The girl whose life was saved was treated and released. Park rangers Kane Seitz and Sue Thompson are investigating; Dale Culver was the IC. [Eric Leonard, Public Information Officer]
Rocky Mountain NP
Visitor Rescued After Falling Into Glacier Creek
On the morning of July 6th, a 54-year-old woman from Enid, Oklahoma, was posing for a photograph next to Glacier Creek along Bear Lake Road when she slipped and fell and was swept 15 to 20 yards downstream before she was able to pull herself up on a rock and hold on to a shrub. Her husband drove to Moraine Park Visitor Center to get help. Rangers were on scene just after noon. They were able to use a rope to get a life jacket, helmet and additional clothing to the woman. Personnel from Estes Park Dive Rescue, Estes Park Volunteer Fire Department, and Estes Park Ambulance assisted the rangers. Dive Rescue deployed an inflatable boat to reach the woman and get her to dry land. A section of Bear Lake Road was closed for almost an hour during the incident. The woman suffered from hypothermia and a broken wrist and was taken by ambulance to Estes Park Medical Center. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
North Cascades NP
Climber Rescued From Triad Glacier
On July 1st, two mountaineers successfully climbed two of the three summits of a peak known as The Triad in North Cascades National Park. While descending a steep snow slope, one of them took a sliding fall of approximately 100 feet. Unable to arrest the fall, he slammed into a rock at the bottom of the snow slope, which resulted in an open leg fracture but likely saved him from free-falling an additional 300 feet below the short rock field. Due to the exposure of the site and limited options for helicopter landing sites near the climber, responding rangers were short-hauled into the site and lifted out with the man to a staging site on the glacier 600 feet below. He was then flown out of the backcountry and transferred to an ambulance. A likely contributing factor was a problem with the climber's crampons. Wilderness district ranger Kelly Bush was incident commander. [Kinsey Shilling, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS.
Bryce Canyon NP - During the third week of June, the park celebrated the International Year of Astronomy - the 400th anniversary of the creation of the telescope - with its ninth annual astronomy festival. More than 3,000 people attended one or more of a series of related events.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7896" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7896
Human Resource Operations Center - The Human Resources Operations Center (HROC), located in Lakewood, Colorado, opened for business on Wednesday, July 1st, and is now accepting requests from human resources offices across the Service for the classification of all position descriptions. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7897" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7897
Public Affairs - The American crocodile, the Channel Islands fox, and the Hawaiian goose are just a few of the endangered species that could benefit from a partnership established between the NPS and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PressReleases&id=878" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PressReleases&id=878
US Park Police - Jeanne O'Toole has been promoted to deputy chief of police for operations for the United States Park Police. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2405" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2405
Fort Pulaski NM - Randy Wester has been appointed as the superintendent of Fort Pulaski National Monument. The appointment was effective May 10th. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2406" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2406
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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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