| 7- 9 GCSAR |
Knots, like it or knot |
Bego, Frank, Brad |
| 7- 25 All |
GCSAR Picnic |
RexBob et. al. |
| 8- 13 GCSAR |
Map and Compass
|
Frank |
| 8-22 GCSAR |
Helicopter Operations and Jet A Madness |
Steve White |
| 9- 10 GCSAR |
Rock Rescue |
|
| 9- 26 GCSAR |
Mock something |
|
| 11- 12 GCSAR |
CPR |
|
| 11- 26 GCSAR |
CPR |
|
| 12- 10 GCSAR |
Winter Rescue |
Eric Trenbeath |
| |
|
|
| |
| Incident Tally by
Month |
2002- J-0 F-3 M- 9
A- 8 M- 10 J-12[42] J- 5 A-7
[54]
2001- J-0 F-2 M- 5 A-11
M- 8 J- 6 [32] J- 6 A-3
S-2 O- 2 [45] N-5 D-1
[51]
2000- J-2 F-4 M- 9 A-13
M- 14 J- 7 [49] J- 3 A-2
S-9 O- 7 [70] N-0 D-0
[70]
1999- J-1 F-1 M-15 A- 4
M- 11 J- 8 [40] J- 6 A-9
S-9 O-13 [77] N-7 D-2 [86]
1998- J-0 F-1 M- 5 A-18
M- 15 J- 3 [42] J-10 A-2 S-4
O- 9 [67] N-3 D-1 [71]
1997- J-4 F-6 M-10 A- 8
M- 16 J- 9 [53] J- 4 A-6
S-5 O- 9 [77] N-8 D-0
[85]
1996- J-4 F-5 M- 2 A-12
M- 14 J- 7 [44] J- 5 A-5
S-5 O- 6 [65] N-9 D-4
[78]
average: [43] |
02-
43 7- 2- 02 Overdue biker SRBT
Over before it started.
Comments: Over before it started.
Responders: Bego, Lee
4th of
July Parade and Fireworks
Awesome parade and fireworks.
The Fire Club won the tug of war against the Sheriff's Office. Accusations
hurled, threats made......
02- 44
7- 10- 02 Busted Up Canoeist Colorado River
A bunch o guys left Hittle bottom in canoes and kyaks. One feller
decided to jump from a cliff into water he couldn't see in to. Said he hit
bottom when he went underwater. Broke his leg and knee.
The call came in as a mile to mile and a half below Hittle Bottom. Rex
sent Frank into John Hauer's guest house down near the river. Frank was
alerted to their location cuz the subject screamed big when his pals pulled
him up almost out of the water.
We responded with the Wave Runners and big boat but soon learned that a
Stokes and Wheel were the items of choice cuz the subject was a short
distance from the road.
Comments: On private property STAY ON THE ROADS, period, no exceptions.
Responders: Rex, Frank, Bego, Nancy, Sam, Lee, Jim G, Dave, Barb, Jeremy, 3
Alpha, Dawson, 1 T 11
02- 45
7- 17- 02 Dry and Lost Bikers Hunter- Pritchett area
Three French brothers from Quebec suffered a bit in the hot desert.
They biked in from the top of Blue Hill and got confused at the 4 way road
intersection near Pritchett Arch. They turned left on to the Hunter Canyon
Spur road which goes for a bit and then turns to a nice trail. This trail
stays on the same bench (almost) for a bit, then goes down into Cane Creek
Canyon in the side canyon with the spring next to the road. No problem.
Part way out that trail, in view of the road below, Benoit and Marc
become too dehydrated to continue. (Another 15 minutes would have taken
them down to the spring). Leaving his brothers there, Jean retraced the
route back to the 4 way intersection then proceeded out the Pritchett Canyon
Trail. He got to the Workforce Services building pretty dang wasted. He
watered up while Louis interviewed him. TBerry was there too.
Louis 1 T 10 suggested three teams. 502 and ATVs were to go in from
the top. The Ranger and ATVs and an EMT were to go in the bottom. And
hikers were to go up from Cane Creek on that very trail.
Brad, in from La Sal, was ahead of us all and provided a necessary
communication link between the hikers and the SO. Nancy also became a
communication relay. Cool.
Not to long into it all, the hikers found the lads, watered em up and
hiked them out. Much radio time was spent talking to the Pritchett
Canyon team "in the blind" cuz one cannot transmit OUT of that canyon with 5
watts but you can hear most stuff coming in.
Comments: Searches and Rescues down in the deepest part of Behind the Rock
is rough going, hard to keep communication lines going, somewhat dangerous
and a long way out there. It's several hours or more at best.
Responders: Matt, Sam, Nancy, Bego, TBerry, Dave, Barb, Levi, Jim D, Lee,
Jeremy, Jim G, Aug. Louis 1 T 10 put it together.
02- 46
7- 25- 02 Rim Rocked Arches Natural Park
Karen 222 invited us out to help with someone stuck in the Firey
Furnace.
We responded to the shed and got 10- 22d.
Comments: Rats. Almost a trip to the ol Firey Furnace.
Responders: Rex, Bego, others (no paperwork)
02-
47 7- 30- 02 Dry bikers on Porcupine Single Track
Four guys from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a land very different from
here. They got out on Porcupine Rim trail and ran low on water. One guy
made it out to summon help. The other 3 cell phoned to summon help. Elvis
left Dave and Dean high up on the single track and made it out by himself.
We responded to the trailhead on Hwy 128. Water was hiked up to the
last 2 stragglers who were quite dehydrated and tired.
Comments:
Responders: Rex, Frank, Sam, Nancy, Bego, Jim D, Jeremy, Dick, Jennie
02- 48
8- 9- 02 Heart Attack SRBT
Cell phone again. From 1 mile out, before the Abyss. A 51 yr old guy
had a mild heart attack.
Former GCSAR member Bob Morgan, now an EMT-I, took an AED and out we went.
All was well enuff to Ranger him to the ambulance.
Comments: Nitro. Good stuff.
Responders: Dick, Sam, Bego, Shaun
02- 49
8- 10- 02 Rollover on Moab Rim Trail
... call came in thru San Juan County... GCSAR and EMS were paged
out... SAR members accessed the area on ATV's and one individual who hiked
to the top... no overturned vehicle was located... 3rd party hiker reported
seeing a vehicle on it's side but no one around...
1 T 3 unravels the story at the bottom:
... a short time later two vehicles were contacted as they drove down the
Rim Trail... The Chevy Suburban had body damage on its left side... The
person driving denied any knowledge of a rollover but did say the Suburban
had rolled earlier in the day on another trail... After more questioning, a
passenger in the Suburban admitted that he was driving and that the vehicle
had rolled...
...sobriety tests showed he was intoxicated
Comments: A medical call on the Moab Rim Trail is perhaps the most
dangerous thing we do.
Responders: Sam, Bego, Steve, Jim
02- 50
8- 17- 02 Agency Assist Archie's Natural Park Carry out
Incident Command at Arches National Park requested assistance from
GCSAR to help manpower the carry-out of of a stroke subject from near
Landscape Arch.
Comments:
Responders: Lee, Dave, Barbara
02- 51
8- 17- 02 Search for elderly man at Fisher Towers
Just before the Arches request (see above) there was a possible search
developing. Just after the Arches request the search turned real. We then
sent just 3 to Arches and everyone else headed for Fisher Towers.
13 B 62 was sent up the trail for a hasty search. Shortly later, Jim
Davis spotted this guy under a tree next to the dirt road not far from Hwy
128. He had stripped down to his boxers. He told his wife he did not
think he would have survived much longer.
The subject had gotten lost, run out of water, wandered down a drainage
and then turned the wrong way when he reached the dirt road.
Comments:
Responders: Frank, Matt, Nancy, Dick, Sam, Jim D, Jeff, Bego
02- 52
8- 17- 02 Busted Biker SRBT
Just as we put things away in the SAR Shed from the previous two
incidents, the pager went off again. Biker down on the SRBT 1.5 miles out.
The son rode out to report Dad had wrecked his collar bone. Other
bikers told him he was 1.5 miles from the start. After questioning, he said
there were sandy areas around and a jeep trail. That would put him 2 to 2.5
miles out. That's a big difference to us as mile 1 and mile 2 have very
different approaches in our rescue vehicles.
Just as we motored off from the parking lot, the subject appeared,
having hiked out by himself. Sure enuff on the collar bone. He
refused an ambulance ride and his son drove him to the hospital.
Comments: Another case where the subject is reported to be in a certain
place at call out but by the time we arrive the subject has moved and we
don't know it yet.
Responders: Sam, Nancy, Bego, Jeff, Dave, Barbara, Jim, Lee, Dick
02- 53
8- 18- 02 Three kids need big help Steelbender
Somehow or other, three kids.... this is the short version.........
We got the page at 8:45 pm and it was rather nebulous at first. How
many? How hurt? Where....?
Is this a search, a rescue, both or what?
GCSAR and EMS responded out to Ken's Lake staging area where 1T3 was
stationed. Soonly, equipment and personnel poured over Flat Pass and up the
creek to the Steel bender Trail. Here we had a Communications Post with a
40 watt radio that would get out to the SO repeaters and the GCSAR simplex
channel to run the rescue in the canyon.
At 9 pm we learned that a young girl had fallen 80 feet off a cliff on
to her back so EMS asked us to get CareFlight from Grand Junction in the
air. 1T3 coordinated the Helo LZ and gave the pilot coordinates. We
learned that 2 boys were missing. Nancy and Shalla hurried ahead.
Across the creek and up a few hundred feet was the scene. The first
people in to the accident site discovered, to their horror, a crumpled up
little girl mostly unresponsive until O's were delivered. Where were the
two boys, 6 and 9? They were soon discovered 50 feet above, stranded on a
ledge they had slithered down to.
We kept in contact with the boys and assured them we'd be up soon. Our
immediate attention went to treating, packaging and transporting the girl.
We had to belay the litter down some inclined slickrock to the road where
she was put on the Ranger for the ride out to the helicopter. 10:25 pm.
As soon as the Ranger left we started hiking around and up to the top
of the cliff above the boys. A belay rope was anchored to a big Pinon
Tree and a rescuer lowered to the boys. As the rescuer approached, the
little one looked up and, in a very small voice, said, "I want my Mom." No
doubt.
They were two very brave little guys. We put a harness on each one and
raised them up to the top of the cliff. Then we all hiked down to the
vehicles and disappeared into the night. The last thing I heard from the
boys was, "Thank You." Awesome. Back to the shed at midnight.
Comments: Splendid effort by all.
There are possibly some gaps or missing pieces to the story. What was
the actual time of the accident? Then, how long until the 911 call. The
older boy had a watch on and said they'd been on the ledge for 7 hours. He
said that at 11 pm. The page came just before 9 pm. Hmmm. What were the
movements and times of the female adult who was (theoretically) watching the
kids? The boy's Dad had driven up into the canyon before we arrived and did
what?? Something hinkey going on here.
Responders: Frank (OIC), Bego (Ops), Matt, Nancy and Shalla, Sam, Jeff,
TBerry, Dave, Levi, Jim D, Jeremy, Dick, Jim G, Jennie, Aug
Thanks to 1 Louis 10 and 1 Steve 3.
All
rise-------
Presentation of the Colors, The National Anthem, the Pledge, a 21 gun
salute and other party favors presents---------->
HELICOPTER TRAINING by STEVE WHITE 1 T 9
[Steve has been with the Sheriff's Office 11 years, is a detective,
participated on the Grand County Short Haul Team and has much long line
work, mostly in film. Served in the Air Unit at the 2002 Olympics where it
was "be prepared for anything, any time of day, in any type of helo." A good
shot. Benches 400. Awesome wife, cute kids, promising career, etc.]
A few pieces from his presentation follow:
There are 3 Rules of Helicopters:
1) Safety, safety, safety.
2) What the pilot says, goes.
3) Steve gets the front seat. [The audience went wild]
Upstate, along that infamous Wasatch Front, the helicopter companies and
state agencies say we have an excellent reputation [for helicopter
operations].
Landing Zones: size, surfaces, obstructions, power lines, things that blow
around, flight path, etc.
Appoint an LZ Manager, establish communication with the helicopter, figure
out wind indicators, etc.
Establish jobs before the helo lands, no chaos. Few people NEED to go
close.
Crowd control means people looking outwardly too.
Anyone IN the zone can say STOP or give the Abort signal.
If you don't like what you are seeing at any point, stop the show and fix
it.
How to approach the type of helo you are dealing with. It varies, but never
go behind the doors.
Night Ops: Lighting the LZ from behind, small strobe lights, no
flashlights, wear glow sticks, etc.
Hot Loads: have ONE gear loader, everyone watches doors and seat belts, no
high loads, etc.
Long Lining: Never turn your back to the load on the cable. Wham bonk if
you do.
Load weights will depend on helo, pilot, wind, air temp, altitude, fuel
load, etc.
PPE: Ear and eye protection, helmet, some intuitive notions about helos
help make you safer.
Then we went outside to build an LZ in the parking lot, even with blinking
strobes from the EMS kit.
[My apologies to 1 T 4 for braggin' 9 up so big. Sorry.]
02- 54
8- 26- 02 Motorcycle Rider Broken Leg Fins y Cosas
We responded with a full battalion of soldiers and weapons. We
followed the RP in to the battleground. We emerged victorious.
Comments: Different kind of write-up, huh.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Dave, Jim D, Lee, Jennie, Aug
The National Search and Rescue Organization (NASAR) and dbS Productions are
pleased to announce a new partnership to bring you more extensive and timely
Search and Rescue related information via SARNEWS.Com. SARNEWS.Com is now an
official e-newsletter of NASAR (published by dbS Productions) distributed
for free to NASAR members and other interested subscribers. Delivered via
e-mail bi-weekly.Latest Articles in USCG SAR Newsletter
The latest on-line issue of the US Coast Guard's SAR newsletter has articles
on the continuing function of 121.5 ELT alerts and on the SAR Controller of
the year award.
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-o/g-opr/newsletter/SarWatch7.doc
Research in Rendezvous Search Theory
A Collaborative Linkage Grant is bringing together researchers from five
countries to study Rendezvous Search Theory. Search Theory is a
well-established research area in the field of Operations Research/Applied
Mathematics. Rendezvous Search is a new branch of search theory introduced
by one of the grantees, Prof. S. Alpern (UK), in 1995. Potential
applications for rendezvous search are varied, but one is in
search-and-rescue operations, and the question of what type of instruction
to give to ships' captains, or to hikers, explorers or children, for
example, who may later become lost or separated. The objective of this grant
is to combine the various skills of the investigators to attack new
problems, and thus extend the applicability of the theory. Tunisia, Israel,
Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom are involved in this
Mediterranean Dialogue/Transatlantic collaboration.
http://www.nato.int/science/e/newsletter/020306.htm
Child
Abduction News and Information
A child abduction that lead to a massive three-day search and rescue effort
in 1997 may finally be solved. With another tragic abduction and search
just occurring in California search and rescue teams may be interested in
the following resources:
The Washington State Attorney General's Office Missing Children Homicide
Report
http://www.wa.gov/ago/homicide_report/sum_facts.html
When Your Child is Missing: A Family Survival Guide. 1998,
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/missing/pubs.html#w
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5625-2002Jun30.html
Lynn Von
Koch, Cadet Commander for the Red Rock Composite Squadron
Commander Lynn Von Koch has been busy since she joined the Civil Air
Patrol in early 2000. The following list of her accomplishments is a
tribute to a young lady who exemplifies the values of the CAP.
March 2000: Proposed organization of a cadet program in Moab as a part
of the existing Red Rock Squadron. April 2000: Joined CAP as one of the
first two Red Rock cadets. July 2000: Completed a basic encampment at
Hill Air Force Base. Composed several popular jodies. June 2001:
Attended the Summer Seminar at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis,
Maryland. June 2001: Attended Air Force Pararescue Orientation Training
operated from Kirkland Air Force Base in New Mexico and was named "Best
Mountaineer" - one of only 3 awards that were given. She was invited to
return in 2002 for advanced pararescue training. July 2001: Attended
Hawk Mountain Ranger School in Pennsylvania. Tested out of the first 2
years of Ranger training and completed the 3rd year "Team Commander"
program. Named honor cadet for Tango Flight and was invited to return in
2002 as staff assistant to the Senior Member Tango (3rd year) flight
commander. July 2001: As Grand County High School student body
president, attended the Utah National Guard Freedom Academy at Camp Williams
for new student government officers. Jan 2002: Passed review board for
the Mitchell Award (named after Brig Gen Billy Mitchell, aviation pioneer).
02-375 -
Grand Teton NP (WY) - Rescue
David James, 44, and Richard Whipple were climbing the North Face of the
Grand Teton on the evening of July 15th. Whipple led a pitch in the Guano
Chimney and was belaying as James followed when falling rocks hit James,
knocking him unconscious for about five minutes. Whipple lowered him to a
ledge and requested help via cell phone. Two park rangers were flown in by
helicopter short haul to a ledge 100 feet below the two just before dark as
a thunderstorm approached. Rangers reached them during the storm and spent
the night with the climbers in a small cave. In the morning, another
rockfall twice caused rescuers to change plans, but the helicopter pilot and
a ranger spotter were eventually able to short-haul the four from the North
Face. James was found to have an inter-cranial bleed in addition to facial
fractures and lacerations. [Bill Holda, Acting CR, GRTE]
[Editor's note: I've been there and short hauling off the North Face would
be totally risky.]
02-406 -
Yosemite NP (CA) - Technical Rescue [George Paiva, PR/IC, YOSE]
On Saturday, August 10th, Tuolumne rangers received a report of two climbers
stranded near the top of Fairview Dome. At 11 a.m. Christian Norman, 28, of
Culver City, and Chris Caines, 45, of Santa Monica, California, began
climbing the ten pitch "Regular Route". At about 7 p.m.,
they reached a prominent ledge at pitch seven. The two were unable to
progress beyond this point because of fatigue and dehydration. They were
neither clothed nor equipped to be on the face overnight near 10,000 feet in
the 30 degree temperatures, so began yelling for help. A friend heard
their cries and reported the situation to rangers. At approximately 9:30
p.m., a technical rescue team of rangers and YOSAR members hiked to the top
of the dome. Spotlights and a loud speaker were used to locate and
communicate with the climbers. Rescuers were lowered 350 feet to them. They
were provided with warm clothes and water and assisted in ascending fixed
lines. The climbers and rescuers all arrived safely on top by 4 a.m., then
hiked off the dome.
[Editor's note: Been here too. They were appallingly slow. Look who wrote
this one up.]
A Dozen
Biological Inventions
In the beginning: Life on this particular planet got itself going at least
3.8 billion years ago as recorded in the oldest rocks found. These
prokaryotic (no nucleus) single cell jobbers evolved out of organic
molecules produced non-biologically in an environment having no free
oxygen. Their diet: other organic molecules. In complexity, this is the
"emergent" part of self-organization in "complex adaptive systems," whereby
life itself seems to arise out of nowhere. "Order for free" does not need
Darwin or any other external force; it evolves toward attractors, enhances
its own fitness landscape internally and science and religion don't care for
it. What part free will? I digress a bit
About a half a billion years later anaerobic photosynthesis happened along.
Single cell bacteria learned to feed themselves (autotrophism) by
manufacturing glucose for metabolic energy. Like hunting and gathering to
farming.
Another half a billion years pass by and, while the sediments were
accumulating that would later become the schist of Westwater and Grand
Canyons, the blue-green algae patented aerobic photosynthesis with oxygen as
a waste produce. Talk about pollution. Egads. This free oxygen was at
first a corrosive pandemic poison to other organic material. Imagine what
the EPA and SUWA would have said about this stuff. So, life had to either
develop a tolerance for this evil oxygen or live in oxygen-free niches. At
this point we had a carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane, ammonia atmosphere,
water vapor was being outgassed, the ocean basins were filling and the earth
day was about 9 hours cuz the moon was a bunch closer.
Oxygen: Greek- oxys = acid and gennan = generate. First described in the
1770s, this very abundant element changed the face of the earth. Dissolved
in the early oceans, it converted ferrous iron in solution to ferric iron
making possible the Red Beds so important in iron ore and rod rock scenery.
Once this went to completion, oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere
and the ozone layer formed, protecting the huddled masses below from uV
radiation. At the same time, atmospheric CO2 was being dissolved in the
oceans to form carbonic acid to eat away at the silicates (quartz, etc) to
form the carbonates (limestones, etc), handy in concrete, azurite and
malachite.
As the Schist Mountains were being eroded flat from Himalayan proportions,
the eukaryotic cell (having a nucleus) appeared with a membrane around the
nucleus containing genetic material and special structures for special
functions within the cell.
Another half billion years pass and, somewhere, somehow, in the back seat
after the prom, "they" figured out how to reproduce sexually, at a rate far
higher than 1.8 kids per family. And this, thru genetic recombination and
emergence, accelerated the rate of evolution enormously.
So, here we are with 3/4 of the Earth's history gone by and we're still at
the single-cell level but we have oxygen, DNA and sex. Uh-oh. Earth day is
17 hours cuz tidal forces are making everything slow down and move apart and
we must preserve angular momentum.
The key to multi-cellness first required that cells invent two amino acids
so that the "sticky" proteins of collogen in animals and extensin in plants
could unite cells to build larger structures. This engineering marvel
fueled the Cambrian macro fossil explosion of 600 million years ago
following a simple organic growth pattern: initially, an exponential growth
of new stuff, followed by a plateau in numbers as the fitness landscapes
were filled up (Gould's punctuated equilibrium). Once again, the
environment determined the outcome. We seem to have forgotten this.
Now the stage was set for life to hop (rather, slither and slime and gasp)
right up out of the sea onto the land. Ker-plunk. Vascular plants made it
400 million years ago in the Silurian times with the invention of lignan
which solved various support problems. For the Devonian invasion of land by
animals, the amphibians packed around an accessory lung for direct
breathing and the backbone was assembled (vertebrates). Eisley says, "...a
stealthy advance made in suffocation, terror and chemical discomfort."
Jimmy Morrison says, "... in mute nostril agony." By Carboniferous times
(eastern coal beds) land based organisms and environments diversified
together. During Wingate, Kayenta and Navajo times mammals, then birds,
were invented, the Dinosaurs ("terrible lizard") ran amok. More
importantly, flowering plants produced nectars and pollens and -above all-
fruits and seeds (Pine nuts) which concentrated food energy to previously
unknown degrees.
Things exist by goelogical consent, subject to change withour notice. After
a meteor offed the dinosaurs, the mammals could grow up and among them were
some tree-dwelling primates. Effective adaptation to the tree life produced
stereoscopic vision and prehensile (grasping) hands for arboreal travel and
, later, TV remotes and beer. With the decline of the forest habitat in
Africa about 10 million years ago, these "orag-utans" (forest people) came
down out of the trees.
On the ground, we became bipedal before we got bigger brains so our hands
could invent tools. (The order of events here is up for much discussion).
We could run around and mate more easily. We could carry food and babies in
our now free arms. Some of those tools had mighty sharp points.
The latest invention caused quite a stir in the larger picture: cognitive
intelligence. That what WE call it anyway. The brain. Thinking ahead.
Reflecting. Concepts and folk lore.
And then was invented the biggest false advertising campaign of them all:
Homo sapiens.
Wise Man. Get it?
What we got then was fire, clothing, weapons that could kill, mutual assured
destruction, whiskey, the indoles, greed, sloth, arrogance, politics,
religion (mine not yours), philanthropy, search and rescue, mountain
bikes......... attitudes, helicopters and stuff.
Weird, huh.
[ Most of this was stolen from an article in Astronomy magazine years ago
].
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