SILT HAPPENS #99-3
Content by Bego Gerhart (1T836) --- HTML by Matt Moore
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| 99- 22 | 5- 1- 99 | 14 yr old Biker Face Plant | SRBT |
| Paged as a face plant on the
Practice Loop. We were on our way when the victim appeared at the road and waiting
ambulance.. Comments: Responders: Kenny, Lee, Sam, Bego, Jeff, Dave M., Nancy, Aug and Shaun Chapman |
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| 99- 23 | 5- 2- 99 | Biker Leg on Amasa Back |
| Paged as a biker leg injury
2 miles in Amasa Back. We were on our way when the victim appeared at the road and waiting
ambulance. Comments: Responders: Brad, Kenny, Sam, Jennie, Rex, Jeff |
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| Cataract Canyon Peak Flow Forecast - and how it changes. Thanks to Steve Swanke |
| There is a 90% probability Cataract
Canyon will exceed 23,000 March 16,500 April 30,000 May. There is a 75% probability Cataract Canyon will exceed 34,000 March 26,500 April 40,000 May There is a 50% probability Cataract Canyon will exceed 45,000 March 37,000 April 50,000 May There is a 25% probability Cataract Canyon will exceed 57,000 March 47,500 April 60,000 May There is a 10% probability Cataract Canyon will exceed 69,000 March 58,000 April 70,000 May From: Colorado Basin River Forecast Center at http:// www.cbrfc.gov/public/for/peak/1999/ |
| GCSAR meeting 11 May Welcome Michael Gostlin 1 T 8 2 0 | |
DO NOT leave your radios ON while in the charger. Get it? |
| 99- 23 | 5- 15- 99 | Biker choss | SRBT |
| Paged as biker down with
broken ankle or leg. 10-22 at the trailhead. Comments: Responders: Brad, Jeff, Sam, Rex, Dean, Dave M., Wrussel, Shaun |
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| 99- 25 | 5- 15- 99 | Something in Westwater |
| We prepared the River Rescue
Boat and waited... and waited. Comments: The subject came out by boat the next morning. Responders: Brad, Sam, Dave M., Jeff, Mike, Frank, Paul |
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"Combine common sense and the Golden Rule and you will have very
little bad luck."
1T7
| Premium Hookers found in Goblin Valley. |
| Dreamworks just finished filming their
Tim Allen sci-fi movie in Goblin Valley. To move equipment around in Goblin Valley State
Park (Eugene Swalburg, King Gob) one cannot use wheeled vehicles or the place would be
trashed in a day. That means one has to use a helicopter. John Ruhl bid the job and won. The team to long line all this equipment around? The Premium Hookers of Moab: Chuck, the Loadmaster. Bego Rigging Czar. Corky, the oldest of the 3 Brewer brothers, the other two being Curt Brewer and Steve White. Kent Green who has rescued everyone, every-where. And 1 T Doug Squire. We'll leave the stories here to the verbal back room banter. In the course of events we trained in Alan Rawlins, a Rigging Grip from Georgia, to hook also. The Mantra: "Keep your eye on the hook." |
| 99- 26 | 5- 18- 99 | Overdue bikers | Gemini Bridges |
| Their plans were to ride
Gemini trail, then continue on into their campsite in town via Hwy 191. While en route to
search area, SAR members (Jeff) located the 2 near Atlas. They had gotten off the main
trail, retraced their route back to SR 313, then rode back to Hwy 191 and to Moab. Comments: Responders: Frank, Rex, Sam Lee, Kurt, Jeff |
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| 99- 27 | 5- 20- 99 | Wrecked biker head | SRBT |
| Paged out as biker down with
head injuries, the RP being the victim's son.. We sent the new Polaris Ranger with Stokes
to trailhead to meet RP and Ambulance. GCSAR was ready to head in when the victim showed
up at the trailhead. Comments: Responders: Sam, Lee, Dean, Aug, John F., Shaun Chapman |
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| 99- 28 | 5- 20- 99 | At the Power Dam - Unpaged |
| An 11 year old gal may have
broken her ankle. The tried and true "Ladder Trick" for extracting victims from
the gorge was set up by Moab Fire Dept folks. SAR brought the litter. Lotsa help. Comments: Responders: Sam, Jimmy N., John F |
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| 99- 29 | 5- 21- 99 | An unpaged thingy concerning the Cisco Boat Landing |
| Frank gave coordinates for
Cisco Boat Landing to Air Life. Comments: Responders: |
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"To acquire knowledge, one must study; to acquire wisdom, one must
observe."
?
| 99- 30 | 5- 22- 99 | Broken biker | Porcupine Rim |
| Paged as a subject with a
broken clavicle about 7.5 miles out from the stock tanks. GCSAR responded with the Polaris Ranger carrying an EMT to the victim. The patient was transported on the Ranger out to the ambulance. Comments: Responders: Kenny, Lloyd, Sam, Kris, Lee, RollsL |
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| 99- 31 | 5- 22- 99 | Overdoo bikers (all police officers) | Kokopelli Trail |
| Frank drove around a bit to
find the RPs. We responded with the 4 wheelers toward the Onion Creek Road at Hwy 128.
Then, a note was found at their campsite stating that they were in town. Comments: Responders: Frank, Sam, Mike, Jeff, George |
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| 99- 32 | 5- 23- 99 | Biker down | SRBT |
| A cell phone call told of a
biker down with a compound fracture out toward Shrimp Rock. We mobilized. When we got to the Abyss we encountered a private jeep with a biker who had a rather nondescript arm injury. He didn't "appear" to be the reported victim. He said he thot we were looking for another injury he'd heard about further out the trail. So, we went a-looking, looking, looking. Nada. Talked to lots of bikers going both ways. Zip. Came home empty handed. Comments: The guy in the jeep was not fessing up, eh? Responders: Kenny, Bego, Sam, Rex, Dave M., Lee, Nancy, Auggie the hiker, Jeff, Dean |
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| 5- 25- 99 Dispatch contacts Frank |
| to give Air Lift coordinates for the Cisco Boat Landing cuz a drowning victim was brought out of Westwater. |
| GCSAR Meeting 5- 27- 99 Welcome to Jim Gostlin 1 T 821 |
| Rock and Roll. The Rock Rescue Team banged in a bunch of bolts and pitons to travel on rope and do a lowering. Gary Haynes, rescue czar from Arches NP, was our victim. Others mounted all the ATVs and rolled out on the Slickrock Bike Trail. Guest of honor again: Steve 1T3 Brownell. |
| Boating Accident Briefing Tue, 1 Jun 1999 From: Steve Swanke |
| Canyonlands NP (UT) - Boating
Accident A private party on an extended whitewater trip on the Colorado River was involved in a boating accident in Cataract Canyon on May 27th. The oarsman and a passenger were thrown from a 18' row boat in Big Drop Three. The oarsman was able to regain the boat, but Jane Johnson floated about a mile down river in high-volume, Class IV whitewater before being reached by members of her party. Johnson was floating face down in the river and was breathless and pulseless. Members of her party initiated CPR and after approximately 20 minutes Johnson was revived. A fixed wing aircraft flying overhead was notified of the incident via mobile radio. The National Park Service was notified of the incident and a medical helicopter was dispatched. Johnson was flown to a trauma center in Grand Junction where she is expected to fully recover. Cataract Canyon was flowing at about 39,000 cubic feet per second at the time, and the water temperature was about 55 degrees. Glen Canyon Ranger Kerry Haut served as Incident Commander |
Safety Warning:"A Warning About Your Personal Safety. It's
just that: it's yours and it's personal. Your safety is your responsibility and no one can
take that away from you."
Climbing Equipment Catalog
Another Safety Warning: "Most people, sometime in the lives, stumble across
truth. Most jump up, brush themselves off and hurry on about their business as if nothing
happened."
Winston Churchill
| INTERNET stuff- keeping up with the Jonses |
| HUG A TREE- a program for kids (and
adults) about how to stay put so you can get found. http://brmrg.med.virginia.edu/hat.html Search and Rescue Magazine http://home.navisoft.com/sarm/sarm.htm Search and Rescue discussion forums- very interesting http://www.sarbc.org/posts.html Technical Rescue Magazine- from the Brits http://www.pushdtp.com/trm/index.html |
| 99- 33 | 6- 6- 99 | Overdue Family | Book Cliffs - IC = 1 T 9 |
| Clark Messick reported that
his neighbor in Thompson (Mike Haechten, wife, 2 small kids) was overdue from camping up
at the top of Sego Canyon. They left Friday, expecting to be back Saturday. It snowed
Friday night. Deputy Messick attempted to drive up the road but it was way too muddy, slushy, gooey. He was pretty sure they were up Sego but may have been in Sagers Wash. GCSAR was called and we took our ATVs thru that mud, slush, goo. The folks from Thompson went up Sagers Wash. We topped out at the cow camp near the Indian Reservation fence to find the family fine, warm and camped out until the road became dry enuff to drive down in their little pickup truck. Turns out, they came off the hill about 3 hours after we were there. Comments: The mud was flying. Quite the view from up there. Responders: Frank, Brad, Jeremy, Dave M., Sam, Bego, George, Randy and Lori Bell, 3 Alpha 83 |
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| Utah State Firemans Convention June 10, 11, 12 |
| Monte Curtis, president Terry McGann
organizer with huge help Ladies Auxiliary Organizer: Marie McGann with huge help Speaker:
Robert Fulgham "People who work in Emergency Services are part of the GOOD news." |
"Everyone without a sense of humor is at the mercy of everyone
else."
1T7
| 99- 34 | 6- 10- 99 | Search for "Nacho" | Upper Bartlett Wash |
| Ignacio "Nacho"
Gonzales was a cook for a geology group camped just off the Dubinky Well Road near Hwy
313. He decided to go for a hike at 4:30 am. He didn't make it back for breakfast. Wendy, one of the group leaders, organized several search parties but to no avail so they called GCSAR. She told us where they had searched and pointed out one of Nacho's footprints. We picked up the trail which lead along the cliff... and kept going and going. Search teams radioed their positions regularly so Frank could keep track of us on the Maptech software of his laptop. We called in a small plane to help search which had Doug "Eagle Eye" Squire in it. We were miles down Bartlett Wash, almost to the Blue Hills Road, when word came that he was in town. Comments: John Keys, who volunteered his airplane if we should need one, flew 2.3 hours. Responders: Rex, Jeff, Frank, Sam, Bego, Lee, George |
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| 99- 35 | 6- 10- 99 | Search for runaway 5 year old - unpaged |
| This little tyke was mad so
he hiked from Mountain View over to Dave's Corner Market. Comments: Responders: Brad, Dave M |
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| NPS Rescue - Doll's House 11 Jun 1999 Steve Swanke |
| At approximately 14:00 hours on
Thursday, May 10, Mary Trujillo broke her arm while hiking the Dolls House Trail. Trujillo
had just completed a multiple day canoe trip on the Green River. Trujillo was hiking
downhill on the designated trail when she slipped and fractured her left ulna on impact.
David Lyle, Christian Dean and T Berry, who are river guides for North American,
encountered Trujillo approximately 15 minutes after the accident. The North American crew
was equipped with two portable radios and a cellular telephone. St. Mary's airlife
helicopter was dispatched to Spanish Bottom and transported Trujillo to Allen Memorial
hospital arriving at 16:30 hours. The highly professional actions of the North American crew coupled with the their available communication equipment facilitated a quick and safe conclusion to this mission. A helicopter was the evacuation method of choice for this relatively minor injury because of the remote location. Land and water transport alternatives were analyzed. St. Mary's medical control was involved in the method of transport decision making process. |
| 99- 36 | 6- 11- 99 | Search for 7 yr old |
| Christian Jones, age 7,
visiting from Phoenix, dicided to bike somewhere while everyone else was napping. The
family looked. Archie thot he saw the kid up Garrett Hill. GCSAR was paged. The family
found him at the bowling alley. He was unsure of where Aunt Kelly lived. Comments: Responders: Kenny, Frank, Sam, Rex, Dave M., Jeff, Mark |
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| 99- 37 | 6- 14- 99 | Banged up Knee | Waterfall in Left Hand of Mill Geek |
| Kate, who works at Navtec,
was having fun at the waterfall. Jumped. Bad landing. Her friends carried her part way
out. GCSAR, with assistance from this one certain other agency, wheeled her out in a Stokes. Comments: Responders: Rex, Frank, Sam, John Live to Train, Lee, Bego and 6Corky01 |
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| NPS Search Training 6- 16- 99 Colin Smith |
| Another "earn your turns"
outing with Colin, Professor of Find Em. The exercise involved a lost boy out by the
Lathrop Trail. Topics: SAR briefing, clue consciousness, team mechanics, hasty searching, search patterns, tracking, lost person behavior, an overview of the search effort. Instructors:Colin Smith, Gary Haynes, David Bennett, Bruce McCabe, Bego Gerhart Participants: Craig Hauke, Shelly Gardner, Lee Kaiser, Becky Boddiger, Kim Davis, Ann Welshko And a group of 10 fun SYC folks. |
| 99- 38 | 6- 18- 99 | Overdue Biker | SRBT |
| The RPs fiance went
a-biking, on the practice loop of the SRBT. She became overdue so the guy called us. We
were responding to the shed when she showed up. She had done the whole main loop. Comments: Responders: Sam, Brad, Bego, Nancy, Jennie, Mark |
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Arches Helicopters has been dispatched to The Windows Section in Arches NP twice this week to evacuate injured people. The first time was to Turret Arch for a lad who had slid 5 feet and came up with compound fractures of both lower leg bones in both legs at the feet. It was ugly. Jeff was there. The second time became...
| 99- 39 (H) | 6- 19- 99 | Search turned medical evac | Windows Section |
| Arches Helicopters was
summoned to the park for a search. Since this helo was not carded for the parks yet, GCSAR
responded. Kenny, Sam and Bego went out to search for an elderly guy, missing for a few
hours from the Windows Section. Larry Van Slyke had found the guy by the time we were in the air. "Always take binoculars when searching," says Larry. Julie was on scene also. After we landed over east of North Window, we discovered the subject had fallen 15 feet and banged up his face. Kenny did some EMT stuff and we put him in the helo for a medical evacuation to the hospital. Comments: A search turned medevac. We should put the backboard and C-collar, at least, in the helo regardless of the initial call-out description. Responders: Kenny, Bego, Sam |
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| 99- 40 (H, D) | Shortest night of the year | Search for fisherman | Taylor Creek - IC: 1T6 transferred to 1T4. OPs: 802 transferred at 4 a.m. to 801. |
| Written by Frank: A LaSal resident was reported missing in the lower Deep Creek area of Taylor Flat late Sunday, June 20. GCSAR was paged at about 11:20 p.m. and responded with ATVs, 4WDs, and DOGs. A hasty search by ATV of the lower Deep Creek area was fruitless. The missing subject's plans were to hike down the last mile or so of Deep Creek and then hike up Taylor Creek to his family and camp...looking for fabulously fishy holes along the way. But he missed the Deep Cr / Taylor Cr confluence and ended up hiking down the aptly named Roc Creek. At first light (about 5 a.m.), GCSAR sent two local dog teams down Deep Creek and Sam and Lee bushwhacking down Taylor Creek...nada. A search by helo yielded the same. CurT4 was flying back into town to start making arrangements for the DPS helo, Search Dog teams from Salt Lake, food, coffee for Frank, additional troops, etc., when the subject apparently walked into his house in LaSal. Great...but we still had family and friends searching the area who were unaccounted for. Due to the rugged and remote nature of the area, it was decided to bring the helo back to locate those people and notify them that the search was over. GCSARites made it back to town at about 3 p.m. Monday. Communication between SAR and Grand County SO was relayed through San Juan County SO. Comments: By Frank: I love technology. Before I left the cabin, I wrote down the coordinates of a couple of key intersections in the Taylor Flat area. Plugged the GPS into the truck's power point, mounted it in the suction cup thingy on the windshield, and turned its light on...so I could see my position all the way up the hill. Set the computer on the passenger seat. A couple of times when unsure of where I was, I just turned on the computer and told Maptech to find me...it did...quickly. And I used it all during the search...plotting search teams' locations. One time, Nancy was unsure of where she was so she radioed me her coordinates and I was able to tell her that she was at the confluence of Deep and Taylor Creeks. When they were hiking out of the canyon, Nancy radioed me to find out if there was a road at the top of the slope they were ascending...or where the nearest road was...I was able to tell her in seconds that she was only about 100 meters from the road and which direction to go to hit it...cool. Also used the inverter when computer battery was down to 19%...charged it right up to 100% in less than an hour. Long night...longer day...coffeeless morning... Responders: Frank, Nancy, Sam, Lee, Kenny, Brad, Rex, Nancy, Jennie, Jeff, George |
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| Canyonlands NP (UT) - Search in the Upheaval Dome area 22 Jun 1999 Steve Swanke |
| On May 19, 1999, Thomas Woolley, 55, of
Westerville, Ohio, and a partner attempted to hike the Syncline Loop, a rugged eight-mile
trail in the Island of the Sky District of the park. Though the temperature was above 90
degrees in a highly arid environment, each man took only one quart of water with him.
After both men had hiked the three-mile downhill section of the trail, Woolley could not
continue because he was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. His partner went for
help but was overcome by the same problems and spent the night on the trail. On the
morning of June 20th, he hiked out and reported the incident. Rangers responded and started a hasty search after Woolley was not located at the point last seen. Rangers tracked Woolley's footsteps and other clues for three miles down a wash until they were lost in heavy brush along the banks of the Green River. The search was escalated with a helicopter and a dog team. At about five pm, the search helicopter contacted a group of canoeists who had contacted Woolley and passed him off to a vehicle group driving along the White Rim Road. Search team members picked up Woolley about thirty minutes later. Woolley told investigators he had waited until evening, then hiked towards the Green River before spending the night in the wash. The next morning he hiked to the river and while trying to get through the tamarisk, fell into the Green River, which was flowing at a flood stage of approximately 27,000 cubic feet per second. The 275 pound Woolley spent approximately an hour floating downstream in the 65 degree water traveling about four miles with no gear or life jacket before he was able to contact a canoe group who pulled him from the water. He repeatedly attempted to remove himself from the river by grabbing unto shoreline vegetation but the forces of the water thwarted his efforts and flushed him downstream. Ranger Colin Smith served as Incident Commander. |
| GCSAR Mock Rescue 6- 24- 99 the Disaster Brothers: Kenny, Brad, Archie |
| Nobody knew nuttin beforehand. We were
paged out at 5:20 pm, given UTM map coordinates and were told it was a fallen climber. A
number of people headed to the shed, first to figure out where these coordinates were.
Down river on the Potash Road. Poof- we mobilized. Just upstream from the "Indian Writings" is a steep gulley. Our victim was way up in there somewhere. We started up with rope and rescue stuff and there he was, dangling from a rope on a 60 foot cliff, several hundred feet up the gulley from the road. It was immediately obvious the rescue would be in 2 parts. We had to get him off the upper wall and then lower him down the lower wall to the road. Dave Mason and Bego went above and threw down a rope for EMT Jeff to ascend to the victim to get the initial assessment. It was decided we could lower both the victim and Jeff at the same time down to the litter waiting in the gulley. It was fun rerigging the ropes from 2 people hanging to 2 people being lowered in tandem. This done, the victim was packaged in the litter. Meanwhile Frank, Rex, Sam, Lee and Dean were busy constructing a textbook lowering station in rather soft rock. The anchors were 4 bolts and a BFR. Soon the litter came down the gulley. The whole lowering affair was dialed in with Jennie as litter attendant, Jeff and Rex as edge workers, Aug ("Keep your goldang brake hand ON the rope") ran the lowering brake rack and Dave ran the tandem prussik belay. The victim was lowered right to the pavement. Comments: An excellent setting, quite real, much problem solving. I like the fact that NO ONE was privy to the specifics before page out. Responders: Bego, Dave M., Jeff, Rex, Frank, Sam, Nancy, Lee, Dean, Jimmy N., Kenny, Brad, Jennie, Aug, George and. of course, Arch E. Wakker |
| COOL SHORT HAUL STORIES |
| 99-205 - Denali NP&P (AK) - High
Altitude Short Haul Rescue of British Climbers Two members of a three-man British expedition were rescued from the 19,500- foot level of Mt. McKinley at approximately 11:30 p.m. on the night of Thursday, May 20th. Anthony Hollingshead, 33, from Shropshire, and Nigel Vardy, 29, from Derbyshire, had been stranded near the summit since early Thursday morning. Extreme winds and clouds thwarted attempts to reach the pair throughout the day. As no climbers were on the upper mountain at the time, ground crews began moving up from the 14,000-foot camp. A limited number of climbers were acclimatized for higher altitudes, making a lowering from 19,500 feet unlikely. At approximately 10:30 p.m., the weather broke, allowing NPS Lama helicopter pilot Jim Hood to long-line a supply bag with radios, warm fluids, extra gear and a "screamer suit" to the climbers. Rangers were then able to make radio contact with the two and obtain a report on their condition. Hollingshead reported that the group had been descending, roped, near the 20,000-foot level when Vardy tripped and all three fell 300 feet. Hollingshead and the third member, Steve Ball, 42, from Staffordshire, were able to arrest the fall with their ice axes. Hollingshead injured his shoulder in the fall. They then descended to the 19,500-foot level, seeking shelter from the winds. Rangers told the two men how to put on the screamer suit and attach it to the short-haul rope on the Lama. The Lama returned to the site, dropped off another screamer suit, and picked up Vardy, flying him directly to the base camp on the Kahiltna Glacier. A second trip was made for Hollingshead. Both climbers were suffering from severe frostbite. They reported that Ball had left the two at 1 p.m. on Thursday to try to climb up to the West Buttress route and follow it to the 14,000-foot camp for help. Ball was located early on Friday afternoon by a ground team near the 17,500-foot level. He had fallen while descending Denali Pass and sustained an open fracture of his lower left leg. He was hypothermic and dehydrated with severe frostbite on his face, hands and feet. With weather worsening and the 14,200-foot camp clouded in, mountaineering ranger Billy Shott was short-hauled from the 7,200 foot Kahiltna base camp directly to 17,200 feet. Shott and Ball were then short- hauled back to the Kahiltna base camp. Ball was flown to the hospital in Anchorage by a waiting National Guard helicopter. The Thursday night rescue was the highest short-haul operation ever conducted on Mt. McKinley. Ranger Billy Shott's 10,000-foot vertical short-haul climb to 17,200 feet and the 30 minute total elapsed time in short-haul were the longest ever conducted on Mt. McKinley. [Ken Kehrer, CR, DENA, 5/22]
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| "Silt Happens" Back Issues |
| #99-2 (Mar-Apr 99) -- River
Peak Flow Forecast; Arches Rock Rescue; Lift Evacuation Team; Huge Fund Raiser; Thanks
Brad; Knotcraft #99-1 (Jan-Feb 99) -- Adventure; "Too Short"; Gary Haynes; Evac Team Paid Now #98-6 (Nov-Dec 98) -- Thanks Yous;
Tramway and rescue plans; Cellular Phonefinder; Practice Safe Response; Pipeline Go BOOM #97-6 (Nov-Dec 97) |
GCSAR Trainees