NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, May 21, 2015
INCIDENTS
Yellowstone NP
Rangers Rescue Man After Fall Into Canyon
Rangers saved a man from New York after he fell approximately 25 feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone on Sunday, May 10th.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m., a 71-year-old man was attempting to take a picture of a sign at Grand View at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone when he stumbled backwards over a stone barrier and into the canyon. After falling approximately 25 feet, he was able to stop himself at the top of a precipice by bracing his body and feet on opposing sides of a small crevice. A visitor who witnessed the man's fall ran to a nearby parking lot to call 911.
The first two rangers on scene threw a looped rope down to the man and secured him to a sign and tree at the top of the canyon. Park employees and members of the park's technical rescue team responded to the scene and set up a system of ropes and pulleys to carry out the rescue. One harnessed member of the technical rescue team descended to the man's location and secured him to the pulley system. The man was then able to walk to safety with assistance from the ropes, pulleys, and ranger.
According to staff on scene, the man was extremely lucky. The crevice and the angle of his body during the fall helped the man stop at the top of a 200 foot drop. A fall just inches to the left might have resulted in a fatality, as the canyon wall is mostly steep loose rock.
The man was transported by ground ambulance to a helicopter ambulance for a possible hip injury. Seventeen Park Service staff assisted with this rescue.
[Public Affairs Office]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):
Lincoln Home NHS - The 150th anniversary of the national funeral of Abraham Lincoln was commemorated by the National Park Service from April 18th through May 3rd. This commemoration included 28 programs presented over 16 days to over 4,000 people in 16 cities.
National Natural Landmarks Program - After many years of fundraising, planning and philanthropy, The Mammoth Site, located in Hot Springs, South Dakota, held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday April 25th.
World Ranger Congress - The Association of National Park Rangers, a member of the International Ranger Federation, is seeking host parks for shadow assignments for international delegates to the World Ranger Congress next May.
Washington Office - The National Park Service has announced the winners of the 2014 Share the Experience Employee Photo Contest and the launching of the 2015 contest.
US Park Police - On May 14th, 18 recruits from the United States Park Police graduated from the Uniformed Police Training Program (UPTP-507) at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.
Cape Cod NS - In late April, the park held an appreciation reception to recognize the contributions of groups participating in fire management projects over the past six months.
To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:
NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/
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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