SILT HAPPENS #06-2
Incidents: 06-006 to 06-023 (March - April, 2006)
In this issue: Rock rescues, jeeping without a seatbelt, Exxon demonstration
****** "Silt Happens" Back Issues ******

Content by Bego Gerhart (1T836) --- HTML by Barbara Fincham (1T810) using Microsoft FrontPage


GCSAR Home "Silt Happens" Member Profiles Schedule of Events Operations Statistics

 

 02- 14 GCSAR IS- 100 (Intro to ICS) NIMS
 02- 23 GCSAR  IS- 200 (ICS for Single Resources) NIMS
 03- 3 to 6 LSAFC  AIARE Level 2 Avalanche Class, Contact LSAFC Dave,  Max
 03- 06 WRT

Winter Rescue Team: First Aid Kits, Call Out Procedures

T-Berry
 03- 14 GCSAR Land Navigation - class (compass, GPS)
          [FUNSAR 10]
Frank
 03- 23 GCSAR Land Navigation - class (map reading, coordinates) Bego
 03-31, 4-01 and 04-02 NPS Arches Rock Rescue - 3 days Jason Ramsdell
 04- 08 to 16 RR4W Jeep Safari Week many people
 04- 11 GCSAR Land Navigation - field (GPS, compass, coords) Frank
 04- 13, 14 & 15  GCSAR

Command Post, Logistics, Air Branch, Traffic 

 
 04- 24  Exxon Low Angle Rope Rescue Training Frank
 04- 27  GCSAR Tech Rescue and Knots - class
          [FUNSAR 16]
Jim, Dave
 5- 9  GCSAR River Rescue and ATVs - 6PM in the field  
 5- ?  GCSAR River and  / or ATV field day (9AM to ............)  
 5- 25  GCSAR Tracking - class [FUNSAR 13]  
 6- 13  GCSAR Tracking - 6PM in the field  
 6- 22  GCSAR Field Exercise with Rock (6 PM)  
 7- 11  GCSAR Field Exercise no Rock (6 PM)  
 7- 27  GCSAR Summer Picnic  
 8- 8  GCSAR IS- 800 (National Response Plan) NIMS

Murray Shoemaker is now Arches SAR Coordinator A242

Jason Ramsdell is moving on... to Yosemite National Park.
You will be missed and we WILL camp in your backyard this summer.

"The landscape is our clipboard." Paula Fuller
 

Incident Tally by Month
Average   J-1.6 F-2.7  M-8.9  A-11.1  M-12.3 J-6.9 [43.7]  J-5.7   A-5.1  S-7.0  O-8.3  [69.8]    N-5.0  D-1.8 [76.6]

   2006 -  J-1    F-4     M-  6   A-12    
   2005 -  J-4    F-3     M-13   A-12     M- 15   J- 5    [52]    J-  9    A-7     S-13   O-16    [ 97 ]    N-5     D-2     [104]
   2004 -  J-1    F-1     M-15   A-13     M-   9   J- 6    [45]    J-  2    A-5     S- 5    O-  3    [ 60 ]    N-3     D-5     [ 68 ]
   2003 -  J-2    F-1     M-  6   A-12     M- 11   J- 6    [38]    J-  7    A-5     S-11   O-  9    [ 70 ]    N-5     D-0     [ 75 ]
   2002 -  J-0    F-3     M-  9   A-  8     M- 10   J-12   [42]    J-  5    A-7     S- 7    O-  9    [ 70 ]    N-5     D-3     [ 78 ]
   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 ]            
  
 

06-6    3-5-06    Overdue Biker    Bartlett Wash/Hidden Canyon
   Overdue biker. The Hasty people had just escaped town when we were 10-22d cuz he showed up.
Responders: Frank, Sam, Dave, Jeff, Jim, Margy, Cody Duckie

06-7    3-17-06    Fall    Up from the Boat Dock
   10- 22’d. A guy had his camp way upstream from the boat dock by the "up route." He fell off something before noon and finally his yelling attracted a kyaker on the River. EMS and others took care of the scene.
Responders: Rex, Dave, Barbara

06-8    3-18-06    Two Fall Off Cliff, One Stranded    Echo CG    Kane Creek
   Echo Campground, up Kane Creek a few miles, seems to attract disaster. Several base jumpers have crashed there. A hiker stranded in the cliffs.
   Three hikers climbed up rotten ledges and blocks for a hundred feet. Lots of loose rock had been knocked down to the talus below.
   Two males subjects "fell" to the talus below and one female was stranded on a ledge. There are many other parts to this story..............
   It was awful. GCSAR assisted EMS with the two very injured males.
   Then, Cody belayed Bego who climbed up to the stranded female, clad only in briefs and a tank top. "I climbed up here in my bell bottomed pajamas, barefoot," she said. "Where are they now?" "I don’t know." She was lowered to the ground.
Responders: Rex, Dave, Barbara, Cody the belayer, Bego, Sam

06-9    3-24-06    Rappel Anchor Failure and Fall Hell’s Revenge Trail
   He was reported to have rappelled earlier on his trip using a Jeep as an anchor. On the way out....
   This guy looped a piece of sling around a boulder, threaded the rope thru part of it (?), leaned back.... and nothing was there. As he fell, his friend on top grabbed the rope and got a bad rope burn trying to stop the fall. His friend down on the bottom watched it all.
   It took a while to get word out as to exactly where he was. It became apparent that he was near the exit road of Hell’s Revenge.
   The NEW 1 T 502 went part way in. GCSAR Rangers then took the EMTs to the accident site. CareFlight was summoned cuz of a head injury and Cody landed the helo right there.
Responders: Bego, Rex, Cody, Duckie, James, Jim, Aug, Dave, Barbara
 

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La Saloppet Ski Race    3-25-06
   37 skiers, mostly racers, some on the "social tour." GCSAR and EMS supported the race on snowmobile at Geyser Pass with Gatorade (needed) and First Aid (not needed). McKay Edwards of Moab Springs Ranch hosted this race, the third one in four years. Fun times up high in the snow.
Responders: Jim, Bego, Barbara and Mark Marcum from EMS

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06-10    3-28-06    Biker Down     Klondike Bluffs Trail
   This fellow from Minnesota lives very near where Polaris Rangers are made.
   He followed his son thru a dip in the rock but crashed, giving him a shoulder dislocation.
   GCSAR and EMS responded. Info about his exact location was hard to decipher. For patient care, he was transported out to the staging area sitting up in the Polaris Ranger because this was the most comfortable position.
Responders: Bego, Rex, Steve 2Browndogstacotuesday, Aug, Barbara, Dave, Cody, John, Shawn

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Arches Rock Rescue- 3 days Hosted by Jason Ramsdell, SUEG SAR Coordinator
Arches Rock Rescue continues to be one of the best on the Colorado Plateau. Nice Views too.
    Instructors: Jason Ramsdell, Kevin Moore, Murray Shoemaker, Steve Young, Bego
Day 1- Intro, Safety, overview, preparedness, knots, equipment, building anchors, belay, rappel.
Day 2- Rescue loads and the requisite rigging, load releasing hitch demo, St Mary’s Helo Ops class, litter
       rig and attendant rig, edge pro and attendant, mechanical advantage, patient packaging
Day 3- Putting it all together: Lowering / raising evolutions, high angle scree evac demo (cool).
Responders for all or part: Jim Gostlin, Steve Brownell, Barbara, Christa, Mike, August, Bego, Kris, T-Berry, Dave

Kyler Carpenter joins the Park Service. Like that !!

The River Unit has 900 numbers now.
TBerry is C921 and Kyler Carpenter is C922 Paul Cowan is C920

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06-11    3-31-06    Overdue Biker    SRBT
   This guy started the Practice Loop at 6 pm which should be enuff time but he didn’t return by dark.
   Zane 1 T 9 paged us out and said that some other bikers with lights were going to go look too. We were 10-22d shortly later when the other bikers brought the subject to the parking lot.
Responders:

06-12    4-8-06    Agency Assist    Arches Natural Park    Carry Out    Delicate Arch Trail
   On the first day of Easter Week and the first "hot" day of the year (still quite mild).
   This older gentleman hiked up to Delicate Arch. On the way back he sat down and "passed out." He soon got up and continued out. Rangers met up with him and he said he could finish the hike. However, he soon sat down again feeling faint.
   Arches Rangers then decided to carry him the rest of the way to the parking lot. They summoned GCSAR to help with the carry out.
   The subject was transferred to the ambulance and on to AMH.
Responders: Rex, Jim, Bego

6-13    4-13-06    Jeep Rollover    SteelBender
   This jeep had 5 people in it when they got to the hard place. Four folks got out to watch. The jeep bounced part way down the obstacle then rolled down the side hill a long way, stopped by the only tree around.
   The RP phoned 911 to say a jeep had rolled but she wasn’t right at the scene.
   GCSAR was paged Helicopter Star 8 was ready to take off and did so, stopping by the EMS Shed at the Courthouse to pick up two EMTs. They flew to the scene. Archie 1T5 soon announced the subject refused treatment or transport.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Barbara, Lee, Matt, Lee, Kris, Cody, James Mc, Aug

06-14    4-13-06    Mtn Biker Injury- Bad hip    Shrimp Rock
   The call in said an "older" guy fell and injured his hip. He could stand up but no way could he ride or hike out.
   Helicopter Star 8 with 2 EMTs aboard flew out. Moments later the helo flew the patient to the SRBT parking lot to a waiting ambulance.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Barbara, Lee, Matt, Lee, Kris, Cody, James Mc, Aug

06-15    4-13-06    Jeep Rollover    Lion’s Back
   No seat belt. Jeep rolled over, front passenger was ejected and the roll bar crushed his femur. No seat belt.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Barbara, Lee, Matt, Lee, Kris, Cody, James Mc, Aug

06-16    4-14-06    Medical Assist    Dumb Bump
   Reported that CPR was in progress. The guy had a seizure (hence the no breathing??) but was soon sort of OK. He had another seizure in the hospital shortly later and was flown to St Mary’s.
Responders: Rex, Kris, James Mc, Cody

06-17    4-14-06    Seizure, then Lost    Hwy 313
   They argued. He walked away from her and the road. Not to far from the road he sat under a tree and had a "seizure." She went back to the car and cell phoned for help. When she got back to the tree, he was gone and it was dark. There is some speculation that she had to drive somewhere else to get cell coverage and didn’t make it back to the same tree.
   We responded with 2 BLM units and a NPS Ranger. We organized in a lightning and rain storm. We went out into the darkness with lights and hope of finding some sign. Nancy and dog Shalla got a scent article. Deputy Pace drove hither and yon with his spot light. Archie was using the night vision goggles. After an hour and a half we went back to the road.
   Archie left to go back to town and presto, the guy was on the road just a quarter mile away. He didn’t remember the seizure or how much time after it. When the rains came he hunkered down under a tree. Then he walked out to the road. He had seen the ambulance’s red light go by.
   The other complicating factor was that the girl gave the wrong spelling to his last name, producing a report out of Texas that he was a criminal. That made her story not match his rap sheet. None of us were to big on the idea of going out in the dark (under those circumstances) looking for a kook. In the end, when we ran the correct spelling thru, he is an active cop altho on medical leave cuz of a wreck a while back.
Responders: Rex, Bego, TBerry, Nancy, Shalla, Margy, Cody, Duckie, John, Jim Barb, Matt, Kris, Dan
     Deputies: Shawn and a certain Mr. Pace
     BLM: two guys from out of area
     NPS: Jason Ramsdell

06-18    4-16-06    Female Rimrocked    Near the Petroglyphs near Hans’ house
   She scrambled down some slickrock on her way back to the house after looking at some petroglyphs. It got too steep to go down and she couldn’t go back up. Her yelling for help aroused neighbors.
   We responded with a rope and harness and lowered her 20 feet to the ground. Subject, Mom and Dad were grateful.
Responders: Frank, Bego, Jim, Lee, Dave, Barbara, Margy, Steve, Donna, 2 brown dogs

06-19    4-20-06    ATV Tipover    near Wipe Out Hill    Merrimac Butte
   A slow tipover to the left by an 81 year old guy out with his family. 1 T 17 and 502 raced off into the wilderness, winding up in between Monitor and Merrimac, not on the NW side of Merrimac. That got straightened out and the gentleman was transported to the hospital.
   On the way out, 1 T 17 took a wrong turn. After awhile, he went back to square one and started out on a different road. Lee found him and all was well.
Responders: Bego, Lee, Barbara

06-20   4-21-06   BaseJumper Hung Up on Cliff  Corral Canyon near Shinarump Mines (some call this Cotter Mines)
   Eight days ago basejumpers rescued one of their own just 50 feet left of where this guy got hung up. He is said to have hit the wall several times and wound up dangling by his chute about 30 feet above the talus.
   Larry put in a ground anchor. Belayed by Kyler, TBerry (C921 or 1T819 or Dad) put on a rack of SLCD’s and led up thru the rotten blocks to a space behind the pinnacle. He established an anchor there, climbed up a bit more, put in another anchor and threw the rope down.
   The jumper attached the carabiners to his harness and then cut the chute loose. TBerry lowered him to the ground. Then he pulled the rope back up, snagging the chute on the way and threw the chute down. He then rappelled to the ground.
   Louis was up on the rim with a 600 foot rope for plan B.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Margy, Aug, James, Jim, Lee, Barb
     From NPS: TBerry, Kyler Carpenter, Larry Van Slyke (they did all the work on this)

06-21    4-22-06    RimRocked Mtn Biker West of SteelBender    Hans Weibel leads the way !
   This guy said he’d been coming to Ken’s Lake for 20 years and did the Flat Pass Bike Trail maybe 3 times a year. Said he was 45 yrs old but could keep up with the 30 yr olds. Then, we thot, what are you doing here??
   He had missed the turn down in to Mill Creek and kept going north on Steelbender. When it turned east, he kept going norther on a dead end road. Then took off west in the maze of fins and canyons. After thrashing for "3 hours" he came to the Mill Creek Rim... and yelled for help.
   We were wondering about quick access cuz it was very near sunset when along came Hans Weibel. "Oh yes", he said, "there is a trail right up to him, I’ll lead the way." OK we said.
   Jason and Bego took off with Hans in fading light. Jason was putting light sticks down and yellow ribbon (bread crumbs) on the complex route in. We made contact with him right at dark. It would have been "impossible" to find him in the dark without Hans’ help. Lee (not a union job), Aug and Duckie were following with more rope and water.
   Plan B was to ATV out the dead end dirt road and track him west. Not.
   Jason tied one rope to a big tree and rigged a lowering device. We put the subject in a harness, parka and helmet with headlamp and lowered him 160 feet to the ground.
   Dr Patrick Sheerer and Matt McCune hiked up and retrieved the guy’s bike Sunday. We didn’t find it in the dark.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Aug, Duckie, Lee, Margy, Paula, Nancy
     Deputies: Shawn, Scott, Destin
     Arches: Jason 224

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" Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. " Marine Corp motto via Cody

" If you have a 44 coat and a 4 hat, it doesn’t matter. " Lee

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06-22    4-24-06    Exxon-Mobile Mock Disaster Scenario
   On the old hiway into town from the Bar M Chuckwagon, (The company) Exxon staged a mock rescue for 30 or so of its geologists to show them what might happen if one of them gets hurt in the backcountry.
   An employee was injured by falling 60 feet down the steep, loose talus from the road. Their safety people scrambled down to her and assessed the injuries and called 911. Zane to the rescue.
   We responded with EMS. First, we lowered 2 EMTs down the hill. The litter lowering system was set up and the raising system parts readied. Down went the litter. The system was changed to raising, then we loaded the patient into the litter. Up to the road with an awkward little ending bit.
   (The company) Exxon then held a debriefing with us there also. One point brought up was "Why did all this take so long." So we talked about the (mis)perception of time during an adrenaline pushed emergency, the cardinal rule of Safety of the Rescuer First and the need to not become part of a problem. We did note that some of them were standing on the edge of the road directly above the scene when we got there. One falling rock and we would have had a real rescue, we said.
   (They) Exxon filmed the whole thing. Said they would send us a copy. Steve Oliveri, safety and risk management professional world-wide, wrote the book "Field Safety in Uncontrolled Environments."
   They invited us all to dinner at Buck’s. Yummy. Thank you.
Responders: Rex, Bego, Lee, Steve, Aug, James, Barbara, John
     EMTs: Jeff, Margy, Paula
     NPS: Karen A222

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This will happen to Steve White, just wait a few years --->


Yosemite National Park (CA) Conviction for Illegal Aircraft Landing

   On July 1, 2005, two visitors set up a camp a few hundred feet back from the edge of Mildred Lake, several miles south of the Tioga Pass road near Tenaya Lake. At about 7 p.m., a helicopter flew in low and slowly circled the lake, appearing to the visitors to be looking for anyone in the area. It landed and the pilot and a young boy got out and began fishing in the lake. The visitors were upset at this infringement of wilderness and went toward the helicopter and took photographs that identified the helicopter by its registration number. When the pilot saw them, he ran back to the helicopter and quickly took off. Several days later, the visitors reported the incident to rangers when they came out of the backcountry. An investigation was opened by special agents. They identified the pilot and attempted to interview him at the aircraft sales business he owns in the San Diego area. He refused to answer questions but did not deny that he was the owner of the helicopter and the person sitting at the controls in the visitor's photos. The agents were also able to photograph the helicopter parked in the company's hanger. He was later charged in magistrate's court and pled guilty to a violation of air delivery regulations under the terms of a plea agreement on March 14th. He was sentenced to serve one year's court probation, to pay a $2,000 fine, and to perform two days of unpaid community service flight time with his aircraft. [Submitted by Dan Horner, Special Agent]

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06-23    4-29-06    Biker Over Handlebars    Porcupine Rim
   A cell phone call from a passing biker. This guy went over his handlebars when the head piece of his bike broke. Well, he had broken it before and welded it back together himself. "I guess I asked for that," said he. He suffered the full face plant, contusions, black eye, possibly knocked out for a second.
   The long and bumpy road out in the Ranger..............................
Responders: Rex, Bego, Steve, Jon, Duckie, Lee, Cody, Frank
     Guest staring Mr. Brent Pace 1 T 13
     EMTs: Mark, Matt
 

 


"Silt Happens" Back Issues

#06-1 (Jan-Feb, 2006) -- Eyewitness evidence, up a trail without a spare, MINS
 

#05-6 (Nov-Dec, 2005) -- Multiple BASE jumpers hang-up on the same cliff,  we slip into the New Year
#05-5 (Sept-Oct, 2005) -- ATVers, BASE Jumpers and a River Rescue
#05-4 (July-August, 2005) -- An angry  rattlesnake , a manhunt and an ATV accident requiring a 100 ft technical rock rescue
#05-3 (May-June, 2005) -- ATV incidents increase but it's heat that takes the toll
#05-2 (Mar-Apr, 2005) -- Winter rescue at a B&B, a rock falls from under a camper and a night-time river trip
#05-1 (Jan-Feb, 2005) -- Search training, an active snow season, and a night-time rescue
 


#04-6 (Nov-Dec, 2004) -- Snow and mud mean overdue people
#04-5 (Sept-Oct, 2004) -- Bikers fall, camper falls, and one person picks up a snake
#04-4 (July-August, 2004) -- Dehydration and falls
#04-3 (May-June, 2004) -- Lost hikers, a fallen climber and a missing hitchhiker


#02-6 (Nov-Dec, 2002)--Depressed people, a speeding semi and winter warnings
#02-5 (Sept-Oct, 2002) – Floating Hummer, Mystery Ropes, Two Recoveries
#02-4 (July-August, 2002) -- Stuck kids, more broken bikers and lost hikers
#02-3 (May-June, 2002) -- Hot bikers, dried bikers, late bikers...lessons in desert biking.
#02-2 (Mar-Apr, 2002) -- Flying cars, rolling jeeps, crashing ATV's -- another typical Easter in Moab
#02-1 (Jan-Feb, 2002) -- Hummering along, Olympically Torched, Dogsgone


#01-5 (Sept-Dec, 2001) -- Three cheers for Nancy, more fun on the rocks, broken bones
#01-4 (July-August, 2001) -- Mock muck, river claims victims, aMAZEing survival
#01-3 (May-June, 2001) -- Group heat exhaustion, Zane flies, boys get stuck
#01-2 (March-April, 2001) -- Rocks fall, bones break, bikers get lost
#01-1 (Jan-Feb., 2001) -- Doggie Bagged; Pilot dies in Book Cliffs crash


#00-5 (Sept.-Oct. 2000) -- Brad finds a son; a relatively quiet couple of months.
#00-4 (July-August2000) --
Airplane crash, a note from Colin, the search for Jeff Firak
#00-3  (Apr-June2000) -- Stuck on the Tombstone, the usual lost and dried bikers, Chris's Mill Creek adventure, Clinton stabilizes Frank's porch
#00-1,2,&2.5 (Jan-Apr2000) -- Nathan jumps, Matt splats, waiting for high water, confluence disappears, Mill Creek wall strike


#99-5 (Sept-Dec99) -- The "Mari" incident, Westwater drowning, Jeeping off Gemini, Stuck on Fine Jade
#99-4 (July - August 99) -- NPS Whitewater Rescues; Prepare Fair; Tracking by Sgt.Green; Credit for responding, finishing the job; Air Life's preferred radio freq;
                                               The Puke Frog returns; Lightning
#99-3 (May-June 99) -- Cataract High; Web rescue; Disaster Brothers; Search Training; Short Haul at altitude; Leadership; Rescue: Who pays
#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
#98-5 (Sept-Oct 98) -- Credit for Responding; Colin Smith @ NPS SAR; Response Statistics; Old Men Do Cliff ResQ; Documentation; SLTrib: $ for SAR
#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)