NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
INCIDENTS
Chiricahua NM
Investigation Continues Into Assault On Employee
The National Park Service is continuing to work closely with the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the investigation of the August 28th assault on Chiricahua National Monument employee Karen Gonzales.
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office has released photos of people of interest in this investigation to the media. The photos are also posted on their HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/CochiseSO" Facebook page. If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the Cochise County Sheriff's Office at 520-432-9500.
Karen's condition is improving and she has moved to a new medical facility in Tucson for the next phase of her recovery. Visitation is limited to close friends and family at this time. The Gonzales family has created a HYPERLINK "http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karengonzales" website for friends and family to follow updates on her condition and share messages with Karen and her family
Cards may be sent to the Gonzales Family, care of Chiricahua National Monument, 12856 East Rhyolite Creek Road, Willcox, AZ 85643.
The National Park Service Victim Assistance Program is continuing to provide support for Karen and her family, including assistance with travel, food and lodging for visiting family members.
In lieu of flowers or to assist the Gonzales family, the family requests donations be made to the Karen Gonzales Fund they have established. Donations may be made at the Cochise Credit Union or by mailing a check to the Cochise Credit Union, Attn: The Karen Gonzales Fund, PO Box 1154, Willcox, AZ 85644. Donations can also be processed at any Compass Bank or you can mail a check to the Compass Bank, Attn: The Karen Gonzales Fund, 173 S. Haskell Ave, Willcox, AZ 85643. Please make checks out to "The Karen Gonzales Fund."
[Michelle Fidler, IO]
Grand Teton NP
Foreign Visitor Rescued From Hermitage Point Trail
A team of 20 National Park Service employees and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS staff responded to a medical emergency involving a hiker on the Hermitage Point trail on the evening of September 4th.
Responders located and assisted a 74-year-old woman from Holland who was reported to be in cardiac distress. She was assessed and treated on scene for cardiac atrial fibrillation and subsequently flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.
The woman and her husband were hiking the Hermitage Point trail near Colter Bay around 5:30 p.m. when she began to experience apparent heart problems. Her husband hiked approximately three miles to the Colter Bay Ranch House restaurant to seek help.
Two hasty teams with park paramedics set out from separate trailheads and quickly reached the woman, who was several miles out on the east side of the Hermitage Point trail. Jackson Hole Fire/EMS personnel were conducting a training exercise at Station 4 in Moran, and six members of the team also responded to assist in the rescue operation.
While the Hermitage Point rescue operation was ongoing, a second emergency call came in to Teton Interagency Dispatch Center for a person experiencing difficulty breathing at the Colter Bay cabin office. Some of the rescue responders diverted to the second medical incident, which turned out to be a person suffering from anaphylactic shock. That person was transported to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson via park ambulance.
The incident with the Dutch visitor was the 27th major search and rescue operation conducted in the park this year.
[Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]
Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs
Visitor Falls To His Death From Mount Whitney Trail
On Monday, September 2nd, the body of Y.K., a 60-year-old man from Torrance, California, was recovered in Sequoia National Park by National Park Service personnel assisted by the Inyo County Sheriff's Office, Inyo National Forest, and Tulare County Sheriff's Office.
On the afternoon of September 1st, Y.K. fell approximately 200 feet down a cliff along the Mount Whitney Trail to his death. The incident happened approximately a mile from Mount Whitney at 13,500 feet above sea level while Y.K. was on the way back to the Whitney Portal trailhead. Earlier in the day, Y.K. and three other people hiked from that trailhead, located in the Inyo National Forest, to the summit of Mount Whitney.
The dispatch office at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks received the initial report of the incident from the county sheriff's department at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 1st. The National Park Service dispatched a contract helicopter and a park medic to the accident scene, while nearby U.S. Forest Service wilderness rangers walked with other members of the hiking party back to the Whitney Portal trailhead.
Due to limited daylight hours, the body recovery was scheduled for Monday, September 2nd. A mountaineering technical rescue team of four park rangers from Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks was sent to recover the body.
The cause of the fall is under investigation. Weather is not considered to have been a factor.
[Dana Dierkes, Public Affairs Officer]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):
Intermountain Region - The National Park Service's Spanish Colonial Research Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been restructured as the Latino History Research and Training Center.
The White House - President Obama has directed that all U.S. flags be lowered to half staff from sunrise to sunset today in observance of Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance.
San Antonio Missions NHP - On September 3rd, the park and the National Organization for Mexican American Rights hosted almost 200 local students from area high schools and introduced them to NPS, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and US Geological Survey careers.
VRP Career Academy - The Service is conducting a needs assessment to improve professional development opportunities for employees with visitor and resource protection responsibilities across the service. Your participation is requested.
Intermountain Region - Tucker Blythe has been named the new superintendent of Washita Battlefield National Historic Site in Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Blythe will assume his new position on October 6th.
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The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
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