NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
NOTICE
Lassen Volcanic NP
Boy Killed, Girl Seriously Injured In Rock Slide
Park dispatch received a 911 call reporting a person with head injuries about a mile from the summit on the Lassen Peak trail just after noon on July 29th. NPS units began responding along with an ambulance crew from the town of Chester. While they were en route, follow-up reports indicated there were two juvenile victims and that bystander CPR was in progress on one of them. Additional assistance was requested, including a life flight helicopter, a hoist-capable rescue helicopter from the California Highway Patrol, and a short-haul-capable helicopter from CalFire. NPS and ambulance advanced life support providers hiked to the location of the incident on a series of switchbacks on the trail at 9,700 feet. They began providing medical care to the two victims - a nine-year-old boy and his 13-year-old sister - who had been caught in a rock slide while hiking with other family members. Resuscitation efforts were terminated on the boy, but treatment continued on the girl, who was suffering from severe head and facial injuries. California Highway Patrol helicopter H14 then conducted a hoisting operation to remove the girl from the trail and fly her to a nearby landing zone, where patient care was transferred to another waiting helicopter medical crew. CHP H14 then conducted a second hoist operation to remove the body of the boy and fly it to Redding, where it was turned over to a Shasta County deputy coroner. The girl is currently in serious but stable condition and improving at Mercy Medical Center in Redding. [Ron Martin, Ranger Operations Supervisor]
Dinosaur NM
Visitor Dies In Green River Rafting Accident
On the afternoon of July 29th, the park was advised of a rafting accident at Triplet Falls on the Green River. The 54-year-old victim and her husband were part of a private party on the second day of a four-day trip through Lodore Canyon. The woman went into the water and presumably drowned when the raft in which she was riding flipped in middle Triplet Falls. She was wearing both a life jacket and a helmet at the time her raft overturned. Members of the woman's party discovered that she was unresponsive when they retrieved her from a pool just below the falls. They conducted CPR for approximately an hour before a commercial rafting group arrived on the scene and provided additional assistance. The commercial group notified the park of the situation by satellite phone and assisted with transporting the woman approximately six miles down river to Echo Park, where NPS and Moffat County Sheriff's Department staff met them. A Rangely District Hospital ambulance was also waiting at Echo Park to transport her. [Melissa Cobern, Chief Ranger]
Yosemite NP
Burglary Suspects Arrested And Indicted
On the morning of Friday, June 17th, a park visitor staying in Housekeeping Camp reported that her purse and over $1,000 worth of camera gear had been stolen from her car. While cancelling her credit cards, she was told that her credit card had been used to purchase gas at 5:40 a.m. that morning at the El Portal gas station, about 14 miles to the west of Yosemite Valley. Valley District rangers went to the gas station and obtained a security camera photo showing a white male gassing up a silver Ford Mustang at the same time the victim's card was being used. Later that day, another guest at Housekeeping Camp reported that his cabin had been broken into and that a pack containing an iPod, another MP-3 player and flashlights had been stolen. That evening, when responding to a report of suspicious persons, Valley District rangers stopped two white male cousins. The cousins, who were driving a silver Ford Mustang, told the rangers that they didn't have a place to stay. A Carroll search of the Mustang ended with the rangers locating most of the stolen property. Upon being interviewed, the cousins admitted to stealing from the car, fraudulently using the credit card, and breaking into the cabin with the intent to steal. The two were indicted on July 30th on three felony counts apiece, burglary (California Penal Code 459), theft in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States (18 USC 661), and possessing or receiving stolen property in the special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States (18 USC 662). [Steve Yu, Special Agent]
North Cascades NP
Injured Climber Evacuated, Visitors Stranded By Flashflood Rescued
On July 25th, park rangers on patrol in the Cascade Pass area were contacted by a climber who reported that a separate climbing party needed assistance - one climber was disabled due to a leg fracture and another had turned back due to signs of hypothermia. One of the rangers accompanied the reporting party along the start of an alpine route known as the “Ptarmigan Traverse,” while the other climber located and assisted the hypothermic man. During the assessment of the leg fracture and mission planning with the IC, a thunderstorm and deluge occurred. Due to the unstable weather in the region, a helicopter evacuation was delayed to the following morning. With bystanders caring for the injured climber, rangers hiked out, but found that the road servicing this popular trail had been washed out in a flash flood, stranding dozens of visitors. This unusual event required a “road rescue” involving several rangers and maintenance staff to clear enough debris to safely get a few people out and supplies in to accommodate those stranded in the trailhead parking lot. Early the following morning, two wilderness rangers were flown back and short-hauled the injured climber out. Follow-up showed that the climber had multiple fractures in his foot/ankle and the hypothermic climber had fully recovered. The road remained closed for several days. Wilderness district ranger Kelly Bush was the incident commander. [Kinsey Shilling, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. The first story on the list is the lead story.
Natural Resource Program Center - The Natural Resource Program Center and the Wildlife Conservation Society are collaborating on a Servicewide, web-based survey on migratory wildlife in parks, and are seeking your participation.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8006" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8006
Office of Public Affairs - No one has traveled further in support of the National Park Service than astronaut Megan McArthur. McArthur recently carried a custom-made NPS banner 5.3 million miles aboard space shuttle flight STS-125 Atlantis. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7996" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7996
Office of Public Affairs - The National Parks: Index 2009-2011, known more commonly as “the Red Book,” is now at the printer. It is also available online in HTM and PDF versions.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7995" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7995
Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs - Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks dedicated the newly designated John Krebs Wilderness at a ceremony on July 25th. It includes 39,740 acres of spectacular sub-alpine and alpine environments in the Sierra Nevada ecosystem.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7997" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7997
US Park Police - Bill Lynch has been named assistant chief of police for the United States Park Police. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2429" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2429
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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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