Mountain Rescue

[dudley]

As some of you may remember, some time back there was a thread here about an eagle scout that was being charged for helicopter search and rescue fees when he was lost hiking Mt. Washington in New Hampshire.
Here's an article on what these SAR crews go through on a regular basis

- No helicopter rescue for hiker with thumb injury - Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

[gutbomb]

Maybe his thumb was "stuck somewhere" and that precluded him from walking in a smooth manner.

[Old #art]

You want me to land it where????

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7587144

[Mojo]

You want me to land it where????

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7587144

This pilot, has been with the UHP for 9 years and the Navy as a pilot for 25 years. Nuthin' but an adrenaline junkie.....and one hell of a pilot.
Kudo's to Terry Mercer.
http://connect2utah.com/content/news/story?cid=46651

[DG]

I kind of like the Colorado method, where you pay a small fee when you get your fishing or hunting license, and that entitles you to be rescued for free. It does not pay for the agency people who help out the SAR folks, however. Their time and equipment comes out of their own budgets. So be nice to them when they come and save you.

You can always call on your cell phone down to the local airport and charter a helo to come rescue you. *S*

[crazy4oldcars]

I have to say it. I'm ashamed of a fellow Texan. Tough up, Dude.

Kirk
(Dude has a special meaning 'round these parts!)

[waltryan]

Here is the text of the law.
206:26-bb Search and Rescue Response Expenses; Recovery. –
I. Notwithstanding RSA 153-A:24, any person determined by the department to have acted negligently in requiring a search and rescue response by the department shall be liable to the department for the reasonable cost of the department's expenses for such search and rescue response. The executive director shall bill the responsible person for such costs. Payment shall be made to the department within 30 days after the receipt of the bill, or by some other date determined by the executive director. If any person shall fail or refuse to pay the costs by the required date, the department may pursue payment by legal action, or by settlement or compromise, and the responsible person shall be liable for interest from the date that the bill is due and for legal fees and costs incurred by the department in obtaining and enforcing judgment under this paragraph. All amounts recovered, less the costs of collection and any percentage due pursuant to RSA 7:15-a, IV(b), shall be paid into the fish and game search and rescue fund established in RSA 206:42.
II. If any person fails to make payment under paragraph I, the executive director of the fish and game department may:
(a) Order any license, permit, or tag issued by the fish and game department to be suspended or revoked, after due hearing.
(b) Notify the commissioner of the department of health and human services of such nonpayment. The nonpayment shall constitute cause for revocation of any license or certification issued by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 126-A:20 and RSA 151:7.
(c) Notify the director of motor vehicles of such nonpayment and request suspension of the person's driver's license pursuant to RSA 263:56.

Our motto is live free or die not freeload or die.

[fcch]

We lost the archive for it, but this is the very reason I recounted this in a past article:

Anatomy of a tragedy.

(Side bar: Instead of my annual rant on safety in the woods, … I’ve put together this little "story", composed of elements from several cases I’ve worked on.)

We all love to pursue our passion for the out of doors in nature’s playground. Unfortunately, in the real world, this is no climate control, … no "undo" last edit, … no "cheat codes", no Get out of Jail for Free Coupon, … In other words, …

"This ain’t no video game".


Funny how lots of folks don’t get it. For some, the problem may be a sense of complacency ("I’ve been down that trail hundreds of times"). For others, they just THINK that because they bought the latest SUV, that they CAN go stomping around in the woods. To get my point across, … let’s do a little case study.

See if you can spot the (flagrant) errors being made as they present themselves.


Jerry and Lewis have been buddies ever since high school. They live right next door to each other and fish together whenever they can. "Good ‘ole Boys", they are both in average physical condition for 30 year olds.

One pleasant late August, the wives are off to a nearby town to visit old school friends for the weekend, … J & L see an excellent opportunity to go explore some new water in the nearby mountains. The girls are all set to head out the door Friday evening.

As Jerry is putting Wilma and Betty’s overnight bags into the trunk, he says, "Hey girls, don’t bother calling. You’ll be all caught up in girl stuff. If anything comes up, … just give us a shout at the shop."

With a wink, Lewis knows they have an open road and that they can get the gear into the SUV before dark, knock back a cool one and be on the road early the next day. Heck, if the girls can have a weekend off, … why not the boys?



Almost 100 miles to the East, the flight crew are spinning down the engine and locking down their helo for the night. Working out of the forest fire tanker base they have had a long season doing triple duty ferrying equipment and crews around, bombing hot spots with the bucket and, as they have the only winch equipped bird in the region, doing some of the more technical S&R work. They are a 4-person crew, comprised of pilot, co-pilot, engineer and SarTech. This week they also have a paramedic who is learning the ropes so to speak, bringing the roster up to five.



Bright and early Saturday morning, our dynamic duo is already 80 miles down range, having skipped breakfast in the haste of anticipation. They arrive at the unsupervised trailhead, sort out their gear and begin suiting up for the 90-minute walk into the Gorge.

Opening his gym bag Jerry notices that he has forgotten his hiking books. Not to worry, his sneakers are sturdy enough and the trail is well maintained. The two trot down the trail at a good pace, forgetting to fill out the voluntary self-registration form that they could have left on their dashboard.

The morning is clear and bright. Jerry and Lewis arrive at the bottom of the Gorge and subsequently spend a fairytale day of fly fishing. They explore along the small river, admiring the colors of the native trout that are eager to chase after any variety of streamer.

Food is secondary to the thrill of the fishing. They have brought along several chocolate bars and munch on these between casts.

As the sun starts dipping behind the rim of the Gorge, they decide to start working their way back. Tired from a long day on the trail, weakened from a lack of real food and unsteady with his inadequate footwear, the inevitable happens to Jerry.

In the fading light and without the aid of a flashlight, stepping over a dead fall across the trail, he slips. A loud Crack! in his ankle followed by an even louder Pop! in his knee, … Jerry knows from years of football that he has a slight problem.

Lewis comes up and tries to help Jerry to his feet. Short story, … the trail is too uneven for the two to hobble out side by side. Even if they could, Jerry’s broken ankle cannot withstand the vertical position and throbs with acute pain with each heartbeat.

Decision time…

The two of them can’t simply wait, … they haven’t filled out the self-registration form, so no one will come looking down the trail. Worse, no one in town is expecting them either (before Monday morning).

Without food or water at is side, Jerry waits propped up against the dead fall as Lewis half stumbles, half scampers up the trail to the SUV. The temperature is a cool 56 degrees. Jerry was already sweating from the hike out. With shock setting in, the cooling air and the fact that he is lying on the cold ground combine to start rapidly cooling him down. Within 30 minutes, he is shivering.


At the SUV, Lewis calms his breathing down, buckles up and drives the 30 minutes down to the Ranger station at the park entrance. After scrambling 90 minutes up the trail and 30 minutes on the road, when Lewis finally bursts into the Ranger’s office, Jerry has been alone on the trail for 2 hours.

Luckily, SOP takes over fairly well and the young Ranger can get the essentials from a panic stricken Lewis. This will not be the first time the Park staff have to go into the Gorge to haul out a hiker or fly fisher. Procedure says the ground crew will hike. From what Lewis has explained, the Ranger also calls out the helo as he’s already thinking shock and hypothermia. There is a helipad half way down the trail and victims are usually littered to it.



The call came in at 20h15 and at 20h30 the helo was lifting off towards the orange horizon. The helo would probably meet up with the ground crew at about the same time that they got to the victim. Not really knowing what shape he would be in, the SarTech would rappel directly to the site and the helo would land and wait for further instructions on the helipad.


On the ground the Park’s crew made good time and arrived to find Jerry unconscious, … his body temperature having dropped by several degrees. Lying on the cool ground in damp clothes, hypothermia has set in at an alarming pace. His arms and hands are waxy white.

Things start happening faster now (too fast). When one of the Rangers tries to shake Jerry awake, he stops breathing.

"Ground to air"
"Air here"
"Ground – Victim is in RA and we would like to winch him out – Now!"
"Air – We will land and recover the line my SarTech rappelled down with then be on scene to winch".


I had rappelled down into the gorge and touched down on the trail 50 meters up from the victim. We never really did find out exactly what went wrong. It appears that the helo did land at the helipad and recover the long line I had used. In the darkness, it is possible that while rotating up and out of the helo pad, they clipped a tree.

We reanimated and stabilized Jerry and gingerly carried him out of the Gorge while another crew flew in to crash site to see what could be done there.

20 years later and "Jerry" still sends sympathy cards to 4 families ever August 24th.


It is the responsibility of each of us to take responsibility for our actions. If you cannot do so for your own sake, nor for the sake of your loved ones back home, … do it for the sake of those who would place their life on the line to go out into the night and bring you home safe.

Train and prepare for the worst,
Play hard … and
Come home safe.

[Steve Molcsan]

Thank you, Christopher