Training
Schedule
| 1/28/99 |
Map/GPS Things- Each officer
makes a map problem- C (Bego) |
| 2/1/99 |
Regular Meeting : Prep for Mock (LSAFC) |
| 2/6/99 |
Mock disaster in "The North
Woods" (LSAFC) |
| 2/9/99 |
Patient Packaging and Fire House
ropes- F (Packagers and Ropers) |
| 2/25/99 |
Search Dogs- F (The Dogs, In
person) |
| 3/9/99 |
A hike up the Tram route: helmet,
headlamp, harness- F (Bego) |
| 3/9/99 |
A hike up the Tram route: helmet,
headlamp, harness- F (Bego) |
| 3rd or 4th week in March '99 |
Arches Rock Rescue- 4 days (Colin
Smith, et. al.) |
| 4/13/99 |
Boating 1- F (Brad) |
| 4/19-23/99 |
The ISKY Rock Rescue (Ken
Phillips) |
| 4/22/99 |
Ropes - F (Rope people) |
| 5/11/99 |
Ropes - F (Rope people) |
| 5/27/99 |
Search Stuff (Colin Smith,
NPS ???) |
| 6/8/99 |
Mock thingy by The Disaster
Brothers (Brad, Kenny and Archie) |
| 6/24/99 |
Tracking |
| 7/13/99 |
|
| 7/22/99 |
Picnic with Archie, Michelle and
the others |
| 8/10/99 |
Boating 2- w/ Dive Team?- F (Brad) |
| 8/26/99 |
Basic Survival Skills- F (In
the field, 6 instructors @ 15 minutes each.) |
| 9/14/99 |
Doug Squire LEPC - We should have
Doug talk to us every year. |
| 9/23/99 |
|
| 10/12/99 |
Search Dogs 2- F |
| 10/28/99 |
Something about hunting for
hunting people (Hunting People) |
| 11/9/99 |
CPR ("Bring a Date"
night at the shed) |
| 11/23/99 |
CPR & Nominations |
| 12/14/99 |
Winter Stuff- Elections |
********
SILT Back Issues
#98-5 (Sept-Oct
98)
#98-4 (July-Aug
98)
#98-3 (May-June 98)
#98-2 (Mar-Apr 98)
#98-1 (Jan-Feb 98)
#97-6
(Nov-Dec 97)
#97-5 (Sept-Oct 97)
#97-4 (July-Aug 97)
#97-3 (May-June 97)
#97-2 (Mar-Apr 97)
#97-1 (Jan-Feb 97)
|
The two most common elements in the universe
are hydrogen and stupid.
"Forgiveness is giving up the hope of a
better past."
"Remember: The entire universe, with one
trifling exception, is composed of others."
1 T 8:
Education is a journey, not a destination. Experience is a good
school but the fees are high.
Mayday:
From the French
" m’aidez" = help us.
ENDURANCE
- by Alfred Lansing --
Antarctic adventure in "full conditions"
"For scientific discovery, give me Scott; for speed and
efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and
all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton."
Way Cool:
Check out www.maptech.com |
Incidents
98-56 to 98-67 (November - December)
| At the Annual
GCSAR Christmas Party... ( and where were you Bego?)
|
Rescuer
of the Year for 1998 : Jeff Davis (1T829)
OFFICERS FOR 1999
Commander: Frank Mendonca
Vice Commander: Kenny Allred
Training Officer: Bego Gerhart
Equipment Adjuster: Lloyd Shafer
Sec/Treas: Nancy May
Captain: Sam Lewis
Captain: Brad Mallory
Captain: Rex Tanner |
| Thanks Yous to:
|
THANKS
YOUS to all the Training Instructors thruout the year.
Frank, Brad, Kenny, Denise, Jennie, Kent, Daves, Michele, Jimmys,
Kyle I., Tony, Kris, John, Rena, Sam, Nancy, George, Doug, Aug, Bego
THANKS YOUS This will be the end of year three (3) at
Silt Happens. 109 pages of whatever it is we is. The office staff
would like to say Thank You to all the contributors, writers,
editors, poofreaders, critics, political assassins, pundits and
riff-raff. |
********** November 7, 1998 **********
| 98- 68 |
11- 7- 98 |
Search for Overdue Biker |
Kokopelli Trail |
IC = 1 T 9 |
A
doctor from Denver left Loma at 9:20am Friday and was to meet his
friend at Dewey at 4 pm. The friend waited for awhile at Dewey and
then went to a motel in Grand Junction for the night. Originally
paged Friday night, Kim 1T9 went driving around the Dewey-Sagers
Wash area.
In the morning, GCSAR and BLM Ranger Lue responded to Hwy 128
and Sager’s Wash area. We sent 4WD units out to Fish Ford and
the Cisco boat take-out areas. ATVs were sent from Sager’s Wash
toward Fish Ford.
Meanwhile, Mesa County had 4WD units, mountain bikers and a
fixed wing aircraft out on various parts of the Kokopelli Trail from
Loma, Mack and Rabbit Valley. The Westwater Ranger was also out on
an ATV, going east from the Westwater Ranger Station.
BLM Rangers had seen the missing biker in the Bitter Creek area
at 2:30 pm Friday afternoon so it was decided that he couldn’t
have made it into the Squaw Park area, west of 128.
Sam, the Lost Person Magnet, with Richard, found the biker in
the Sager’s Wash area. He had followed the trail into a wash
but had missed the exit out of the wash. That cost him a very cold
night out.
Responders: Frank, Dave M., Sam,
Richard, Dave L. |
| Practice Safe
Response |
| Search
and Rescue responders are subject to all the signs and laws and safe
driving habits as anyone else. If you hit something or someone, YOU
are responsible. Have a SAR decal on your vehicle and turn on your
flashers. And drive safely all the time. and If dispatch calls you
directly, you must call the OIC to appraise him of the situation
|
********** November 10, 1998 **********
| GCSAR meeting
11- 10- 98 |
| Training:
CPR and Bloodborne Pathogens |
********** November 14, 1998 **********
| 11- 14- 98 Short
Haul Team Training La Sal Mountains |
We
got permission from the Forest Service to train on USFS land and we
agreed to stay away from the main ski area. So, on a religiously
scenic day, we established an LZ along the Loop Road at 7,700 feet
elevation and flew singly or in pairs to the top of the ridge
northwest of TukNo (see the ski map by Barnes) at 10,400 feet.
From here we could view all of the south to west facing popular
cross-country skier terrain in Gold Basin. A view directly into
Talking Mtn Cirque. The NW Ridge to Tuk.
Comments: Might have been the prettiest flight
I’ve ever taken. Flight path was 3.5 miles long. The Short Haul
Team has now trained in the winter environment, at altitude, and so
becomes another tool for the Winter Rescue Team.
If you use the Barnes’ La Sal Rec map, notice it has not
one coordinate along the map margin. All the lines are there, just
no numbers. You need to label your own coordinates. Shows ski
routes.
Pilot: John Ruhl
Spotters: Kent Green and Curt Brewer
Short Haul Team: Bego, Curt Brewer, Frank
Mendonca, Steve White, Kent Green, Corky Brewer |
********** November 14, 1998 **********
| 98- 69 |
11- 14- 98 |
Ambulance Assist - Biker
Stuff |
SRBT |
IC = 1 T Rex |
The
call came for GCSAR to respond to a broken ankle. The ATVs were half
way to the trailhead when 10-22d. The biker refused any treatment or
transport when he learned it would cost him money.
Responders: Rex, Kurt, Jeff, Mark,
John F. |
| 98-718 -
Canyonlands NP (UT) - Assist; Climbing Fatality |
On
the morning of November 14th, rangers received a report of an
apparent climbing fatality in Indian Creek Canyon, a popular
climbing destination on BLM land just outside the park's Needles
District. They found the body of 41-year-old Paul Hubbs of
Telluride, Colorado, at the base of "The Naked and the Dead"
climbing route. Park Service personnel conducted a scree evacuation
of the body for the county sheriff's department and assisted in the
investigation. Evidence indicates that Hubbs had been solo climbing
late on the previous evening and that his one-piece anchor pulled
out as he was rappelling off the route. He fell about 30 feet and
suffered extensive injuries.
[Fred Patton, DR, CANY, 11/5] |
| Notes from a
local bike shop whiz kid about rescues and the Tramway:
|
The
tramway to Moab Rim project has begun. This will ultimately result
in many more Search and Rescue call-outs for injured and lost
bikers- because:
An emergent group of mountain bikers is the "ski lift
bikers." In the summer, these folks, usually families or the
more daredevil X-game types, ride ski lifts to the summits and bike
downhill. Soon, we will have the lift. And many people taking their
bikes up to the rim. Some will ride down the treacherous Moab Rim
Trail (jeep 4+), thinking it’s an easy route. New "downhill
bike" runs will be developed by usage that lead down into
Pritchett Canyon. It will be difficult to help injured people in
some of these areas. Some of this land is too rugged for our 6
wheelers. Even the short haul team would have problems. We must Be
Prepared.
A "LIFT EVACUATION PLAN" will evolve in January.
Interested? Go to Brad and Kenny. Many Hours of arduous training in
Feb and Mar. Demo for OSHA in March. Woosh!! |
| H. A. T. E. --
another, yet another, acronym. (From Rock and Ice, #89, p40, author
from Ohio) |
The
article starts out with this: "If you and I ever get a chance
to climb together, I will HATE myself and then I will HATE
you."
H. Harness: tight, buckles secure and doubled back, any
material frayed or worn (esp at the main tie-in area)??
A. Anchors: at least 2, bombproof, will it hold in any
direction, can the belayer be pulled off the stance, water knots
with at least 2" of tail, wear marks or frayed marks on
anything, faded??
T. Tie-in: correct knot, does it loop thru the leg
loops and the waist belt, is the rope worn or frayed, esp about 15’
from the end??
E. Equipment: biners, slings, pro, belay and rap
devices, prusik loop in good shape and rigged properly? Am I
carrying enuff personal items for the project, even if the weather
turns?? |
********** November 23, 1998 **********
| 98- 70 |
11- 23- 98 |
Cell Phone Rescue |
Golden Spike Trail |
IC = 1 T 6 |
"Received
a cell phone call stating that they were on the Golden Spike Trail
with 1 broken jeep and they were lost. I asked if they had matches
and they said yes. I said to spend the night and if you can’t
find a way out, call."
Responders: Kent |
********** November 24, 1998 **********
| GCSAR meeting
11- 24- 98 |
| Training:
We’re all CPR Thanks to Kenny, John, Aug, Rena |
********** December 3, 1998 **********
| 98- 71 |
12- 3- 98 |
Pipeline Go BOOM |
Hwy 191 (5 mi N of
Moab) |
"There
are some inherent dangers." - K. Guymon, Williams Energy at an
LEPC meeting.
98-742
- Arches NP (UT) - Pipeline Explosion; Park Evacuation, Closure
A gas pipeline explosion occurred less than a half mile north
of the park's visitor center and main entrance on Highway 191 just
before 10 a.m. on December 3rd. A construction crew installing a new
gas pipeline ruptured an existing ten-inch line carrying unrefined
natural gas liquids. Workers heard the sound of escaping gas and
fled; shortly thereafter, the gas ignited, creating a fireball and
plume of black smoke visible for miles. Rangers heard the explosion
and contacted the county sheriff's office. A 150-foot high column of
flame was visible above the 200-foot high ridge directly in front of
the visitor center, but the ridge prevented substantial and possibly
catastrophic damage to the park's headquarters area and injury to
park visitors and employees who reside there. The entire area was
immediately evacuated, and gas and electrical services were shut
off. Visitors and employees already in the park were prevented from
entering the area and had to either exit the park via backcountry
roads or spend the night in the park campground. An immediate
interagency response ensued. Over 100 fire, EMS, SAR, hazmat and law
enforcement personnel from about 20 agencies with a 200- mile radius
of the incident responded. The incident was managed under a unified
interagency command. There were initial reports of up to 20
fatalities, but these proved incorrect - three pipeline workers
received minor injuries and a fourth was hospitalized with internal
injuries. A D-8 Caterpillar bulldozer and eight other motor vehicles
were incinerated in the blaze, and a tractor-trailer traveling over
the highway was damaged. Damage to park resources included
destruction of all vegetation covering about 50 acres and loss of a
number of park boundary signs. Highway 191 was closed for a day and
a half, and nearby high voltage electric transmission lines were
shutdown for two days. Media interest in the incident was very high.
Twenty-eight NPS employees from Arches and Canyonlands NPS
responded; several filled key overhead positions and the remainder
provided EMS, park security, traffic control, spotter aircraft
overflights, public information, and family liaison. Eight park
residents were evacuated from their homes for two days, with most
housed in local motels. The park remained closed and the
headquarters complex remained evacuated until repairs to the
pipeline were completed in the early morning hours of December 5th.
The park returned to normal operations later that morning.
[Gary Haynes and Jim Webster, ARCH, 12/6]
GCSAR responders: Frank, Brad, Lloyd, Kent,
Kenny, Jimmy N., Russel, Kris, Steve, Josh, Rex, Dave M., sam, Dan,
Lee, Kurt, Richard, Greg, Jimmy F., Kim the mom, Nancy, Jennie,
Dean, Aug, Dave L., Jeff, Mark, George, John. |
| Cellular Phone
Location Identification- "Fonefinder |
From:
Jim Webster
Author: Ken Phillips at NP-GRCA SAR Coordinator Grand Canyon
National Park 12/2/98
Cellular Telephone 911 Call Location Identification- "Fonefinder"
manufactured by Tendler Cellular, Boston, MA
The FCC issued a Report and Order requiring all cellular
service providers and manufacturers to identify the location of 911
calls. The two possible solutions have been to install directional
beacons on all cellular towers (cost prohibitive at $50k to $500k
per site) or enhance the cellular phones to provide a location.
Tendler Cellular of Boston, MA has developed and patented the "fonefinder"
system for reporting to dispatch centers the location of a stricken
individual through telling the Dispatcher in English where the
caller is. This is done through "voice" synthesis chip
which transmits the location of the phone in latitude/longitude
coordinates. The location is determined through by a GPS chip built
into the phone. This location identification feature is only
activated when a distinctive "911" button on the phone is
pushed to make an emergency call to a 911 PSAP (Public Safety
Answering Point). The fonefinder chip sets are already being
installed by phone manufacturers including Mitsubishi, Audiovox,
Nokia, Motorola and Ericcson. The price for phone with this feature
is expected to be $400 each.
This technology heightens the need for NPS park dispatches
facilities to get on line with electronic maps to determine Lat/Long
coordinates immediately. Several products are readily available,
such as Delorme, Tactical Mapping, TOPO!, and Maptech.
More information on the fonefinder is available at-
www.fonefinder.com/intro.html
|
| Subject: "The
future vs. wilderness" Electronic gadgetry vs knowing.
|
From:
Mike Hill *Forest Gump was quoted as saying....."stupid is as
stupid does...." *Electronics could actually amplify
Darwinism......before breeding. *Tools of any type are dangerous in
the hands of fools and idiots. People will continue to get into
trouble in the wilderness, especially if they're only partially
equipped ....mentally, physically and spiritually. Unfortunately
people tend to think they can pick up the slack of any these
qualities - financially.
From: Paul Cowan This just proves you still need to know how to
use a map and compass when the batteries in your GPS unit and cell
phone die.
From: Bob Proudman Date: 12/11/98 Dear Mr. Walters: Don Owen of
the A.T. Park Office (NPS), shared with me a hard-copy of your email
about MAPTECH, Inc. and the implications of modern mapping and cell
phone technologies on the wilderness. I thought you'd enjoy an
article I wrote on the subject, published in our maintainers'
newsletter THE REGISTER, in the spring of 1997. It was well-received
by our readers. Bob
Cell Phones and GPS Will Never Replace Outdoor Experience
and Training
Modern electronic gadgetry such as the cell phone and the
global positioning system (GPS) are not always a boon to safety, and
may actually overload rescue services with unnecessary, nonemergency
communications from hikers who should be better prepared and more
traditionally equipped with map, compass and hiking gear appropriate
for the terrain and season. This is the theme of an article
published last year by the Wall Street Journal, "Annoying in
the City, Cell Phones Are Hell In the Wilderness," which
recounts a number of disturbing incidents last summer in New
Hampshire's White Mountains and elsewhere. Two hikers from
Pennsylvania equipped with a cell phone and global positioning
system, but no map, repeatedly checked with rescuers as they climbed
Mount Tripyramid. While they knew their latitude and longitude, they
didn't have a map to plot their position or course. A rescue was
launched to guide them out during a pouring rain despite the fact
that they were not injured or ill from exposure. In another more
outlandish situation, the National Park Service tells of a hiker who
requested a helicopter rescue in Olympic National Park last summer.
The man was a day behind schedule and anxious to get to a business
meeting. When he was informed by park rangers that a helicopter
rescue would cost him $1500, his requests abruptly ceased. Similar
incidents are being reported by more and more rescue agencies as
cell phones and GPS systems are becoming more affordable. (Clubs or
agencies with interesting stories are encouraged to write ATC at the
masthead address.)
What is most disturbing about these reports is the incompetence
of some of the parties requesting aid or rescue. In one case, a pair
of hikers called for assistance at 5:30 a.m. after shivering through
the night on Mt. Flume because they couldn't light their cook stove
or didn't understand that their space blanket, which they had with
them, could help keep them warm. Hearing that help was on the way,
one of them claimed "this helped my morale a lot." Would
his morale be helped even more if he learned the skills for staying
warm, dry, well-fed and located in the backcountry? Phoning for help
or knowing one's satellite location does absolutely no good if you
can't discern a trail junction, put on warm clothes or prepare
something hot to eat and drink. Cell phones and global positioning
systems may lull hikers with false security, leading to forging
ahead in marginal weather or without adequate equipment to stay
warm, well fed and prepared to wait-out storms or find the way by
headlamp after nightfall.
Rescue agencies are quickly getting more savvy in their
dealings with hikers who "cry wolf" prematurely, demanding
rescues and other assistance. AMC Outdoors reported several years
ago about a pair of New York hikers who became lost in a dense
November fog below Mt. Washington. They called AMC several times on
their cell phone, tying up the line when there was no real
emergency. Because they were uninjured, AMC declined to help them,
except to advise them on their best route out. The hikers found
their way off the mountain using map and compass which, fortunately,
they were carrying with them.
Over the years, New Hampshire residents and their state
legislative representatives have grown impatient with the high costs
of rescues in the White Mountain National Forest, the costs for
which are paid mostly by New Hampshire's Fish and Game Department, a
state agency funded by revenues from hunting and fishing licenses.
According to a late-1996 article in the New Hampshire Sunday News,
the legislature passed a law that will allow the Fish and Game
Department to fine hikers whose negligence leads to a rescue
situation. State officials may charge rescue costs on the
perpetrator if his negligence caused the rescue. This provision has
only been used once, to fine a hiker who became hypothermic after
getting drunk on Mt. Moriah. Other hikers bundled him up in a
sleeping bag and space blanket, and he was evacuated the next day by
the state. For his foolishness, he pled guilty to reckless conduct
and was fined $500.
The Roanoke Times recently carried a commendable editorial
entitled, "Technology threatens sanctity of wild places."
It describes how techno-fanatics who love cell phones, GPS units,
portable radios, TVs and other electronic gadgetry, will potentially
undermine the wilderness ethic. Author Justin Askins ends his
article with a warning that "wilderness should be left out of
the computer age." While I agree with Mr. Askins' philosophy, I
find myself pessimistic about our collective ability to discourage
sophisticated electronic toys. In my opinion, people will always be
people, and will usually succumb to the temptation to bring new
gizmos into the woods. Certainly, peer pressure should be brought to
bear to limit the noise of audio equipment, and outright bans might
even become necessary if there are repeating patterns of egregious
electronic noise disrupting others' solitude and recreation
experience.
In the end, the human propensity to be infatuated with gadgetry
actually has little to do with real competence in hiking in
different seasons or marginal weather conditions. Despite the most
sophisticated equipment, I remain confident that people-in their
infinitely various ways-will continue to venture outdoors with
unfailing incompetence. In the final analysis, hikers will have to
become competent to stay out of trouble, or to "self-rescue,"
particularly when bad weather hampers communications or a response
from prospective rescuers. If hikers don't become competent, they
may be confronted with the absolute necessity to manage their
situation in the throes of a real emergency regardless of the
equipment they're carrying.
Search, rescue and law-enforcement personnel will need to be
prepared for the likelihood of receiving more premature calls, and
consider encouraging their legislatures and administrative
supervisors to pass search and rescues costs along to the victims,
particularly in cases of outright negligence. Land managing agencies
should also prepare more effective warnings that clarify the
essential message: visitors must use mountains and trails "by
their own unaided efforts" or be prepared to pay. Maybe it is
time to state, unequivocally, that nonessential emergency
communications may constitute interference with government agency
functioning, an act that is considered illegal in most
jurisdictions, and to consider levying fines on the worst offenders.
Bob Proudman, Trail Management Dir, Appalachian Trail Conf,
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 |
| 98-696 - Grand
Teton NP (WY) - SHORT HAUL Rescue |
On
the afternoon of October 12th, rangers received a phone call from
Barbara Lachmar of Logan, Utah, reporting that her husband, Tom, had
not returned from a climb in the Tetons. Lachmar left his residence
in Logan on the night of the 10th with plans to solo climb the next
day, then return home that evening. He left no information as to
what route or peak he was intending to climb, or at which parking
area he would leave his vehicle. Rangers located Lachmar's vehicle
at the String Lake trailhead just before 5 p.m., thereby narrowing
down the search area to the central portion of the Teton Range.
Shortly thereafter, two rangers began an aerial search in the
park contract helicopter, with plans to fly primary trails and
travel routes and to look for an attractant such as smoke or a
mirror flash. Ten minutes into the flight, they spotted a white
t-shirt hanging in a tree near the base of Symmetry Couloir,
southeast of Symmetry Spire. Although it turned out that this shirt
had nothing to do with the missing climber, it focused the aerial
search in this general area.
Within two minutes, a solo climber was seen in the upper
reaches of a couloir west of Symmetry Spire. The individual matched
the description of the missing climber; he appeared to be injured
and unable to move. With daylight hours waning, the helicopter
returned to the Lupine Meadows helibase and was configured for a
shorthaul rescue. One ranger served as the shorthaul spotter while
the other was lowered to the scene via a 150-foot shorthaul line.
The climber, who turned out to be Lachmar, was stabilized and
evacuated via shorthaul extraction, with a ranger attending him.
Just under three hours had elapsed since the first report. This
proved significant, as the search was begun with the knowledge that
Lachmar had gone climbing somewhere in the Tetons and was likely in
the central portion of the Teton Range. It's estimated that a
conventional, technical ground rescue to the nearest landing zone
would have required, at a minimum, a team of 12 to 15 people, and
would have extended well into the following day.
[C. Campbell, CR, GRTE, 10/22] |
********** December 8, 1998 **********
| 12- 8- 98 GCSAR
Meeting and Elections |
| Dave
Bodner, rescue guru in about any field, taught about Winter Snow and
Avies |
|