| RAWAH WILDERNESS MISSION
Friday, June 22, 2007 82 year old Walter and his dog Taffy are camping
at Brown's Park campground, on the east edge of the Rawah Wilderness,
about 18 miles up the Laramie River Road and a couple miles south
of Glendevey. On Thursday 21 June he decides to hike the Link
Trail up to the McIntyre Burn area (if I recall correctly, it
burned in the late 1800's). The display board at the trailhead has the
following information about the Link Trail: 8.8 miles one way to Rawah
Trail, elevation start 8433 feet, elevation net gain 2300 feet; rated difficult. At 10:00
Walter signs in at the trail register, noting he'll be back in the
afternoon, hiking the Link Trail, and is camped at site 23. He is
the only one listed on the register for the 21st, and everyone on
the list for the prior week shows that they signed out, most
listing the time they returned. (I took a photo of the register.)
Walter and Taffy make it to the edge of the burn area, and shortly after
begin the return hike. Walter wears a small day pack which contains a
jacket, water and food, a trash bag and some other items. About
four months prior he'd had his right hip replaced, and during the
downhill walking it is starting to bother him. He decides to stop
and rest by sitting on a large rock and eat lunch. He had a bit of
trouble while standing up, and some distance later stumbles and
falls on the trail, dislocating his hip in the process. He is unable to
get back up, and prepares himself to wait for help by donning his jacket
and making the trash bag into an overgarment. Taffy helps by
laying down atop Walter. Fortunately, the weather is benign, and remains
so during the night.
Simultaneously on Thursday, 62 year old Richard has stopped at
the Stub Creek Ranger Station, which is about a mile before the
Brown's Park campground. He is talking with the three Forest
Service volunteers about local hiking trails and attractions, one
of which is the Big McIntyre Burn. He sets up his camper in the
campground and reads the brochures they gave him. At 08:25 on Friday
morning he signs in at the Link-McIntyre trail register listing his
activity as a day hike on the Link Trail. Richard's entry is on the
line directly under Walter's entry.
At about 09:30 Richard encounters a sleeping Walter on the trail. Not
knowing if the person is dead or alive, he loudly calls out "Good
Morning!", which rouses Walter into a groggy awareness of Richard's
presence. Richard ascertains that Walter cannot walk, gives him water
and a couple oranges, then hastens down the trail and over to the
Stub Creek Ranger Station. After they report the incident to LCSO
Dispatch, two of the volunteers and Richard hike back to Walter's location, leaving volunteer James at the trailhead to meet
responders.
At 10:40 the SAR Manager page goes out, to call Ocean 5, Justin Whitesell.
Justin gives me story, and we agree on a direct non-emergency response
to the trailhead for LCSAR. In addition, as we have no idea just
how stable Walter's condition might be, Justin wants to explore using a
helicopter to access and evac him. In between a couple more phone
calls between us, and additional pages to the Team, he has the Forest
Service contract ship, an Aerospatiale Lama, re-tasked to our
rescue incident, and two LCSAR EMT's (Josh Carnes and Denise
Alvord) are heading to the Hewlett Gulch helispot. Justin, the PVH
ambulance and I also head to this helispot. By the time I arrive, and
Denise moments later, the flight crew has been decided as Justin,
Josh, and Jared, one of the PVH paramedics. Justin had grabbed
the helicopter PPE duffel from Truck 10 to outfit those flying.
Justin has coordinates for what he hopes will be a meadow that is
very close to where he expects Walter is located, based on his
work with the mapping software prior to leaving his office. Denise
departs to drive to the trailhead.
However, weather is not looking good in the vicinity of the helispot,
showing thickening clouds, wind and lightning. While the helispot
manager gives the mandatory safety briefing to the flight crew, I
snap a few photos, then depart to drive to the trailhead. Shortly
afterward, the skies open up and dump a considerable amount of
rain and wind for the next half hour or so, along my drive up to the
lower narrows. Upon exiting the narrows, I find the skies are
mostly blue and there is little wind. I suspect I'm the last LCSAR
vehicle enroute to the trailhead.
Dave Hake is driving Truck 10, and is likely the lead vehicle. Dispatch
responds to his request that there are four on the counter and seven
that have called in via radio -- a light turnout, though enough
for a relatively easy carry to a close helispot, or down a short easy
trail -- both unknowns at this time. However, knowing that
Richard, the RP, said he hiked up the trail for only 50 minutes before
finding Walter, I suspect that the distance will be about a mile,
two at the most if Richard is a strong hiker. Also, I know that the two
FS volunteers and the RP are at Walter's location, and they could be
used to assist the evac if necessary, so I decide to not send out
another Team page.
I have driven just a few miles up Laramie River Road when Dispatch advises
me that the helicopter cannot fly due to weather, and that Justin and
the PVH ambulance are on their way up. A bit later Justin asks if the
Team can handle this alone, to which I respond yes, and he returns to
town. I've been hearing much radio traffic regarding lightning
strikes and smokes, so Justin's talents are better applied today to
those potential fires.
Thad Hoff is first to arrive at the trailhead, as he says "about an hour
and a half before" others of the Team. (Thad will stay at base, as he
has to leave soon for a 17:30 wedding; he's the best man.) Next
to arrive at about 13:00 are Dave, Doug Grimm, Scott Evans and Mike
Erickson (with Merlin). They form the hasty team, departing at
13:10, with Scott going on ahead to make contact with Walter as
soon as possible. Knowing Walter is on the trail, they take the litter,
wheel, backboard and vacuum splint, and minimal tech gear for a running
belay. The others arriving are Denise, Sarah Babbitt, Bill Daniel,
Sandy Jordan, Chad Kline, Jenn Nolte, Larry Sanders and Brian Walsh.
Much later Josh arrives, in time to assist with the last 15-20 minutes
of the evac. Kim Ruben had car troubles enroute which prevented
her from participating. Deputy Earl Fawcett (E-19) stops by to offer
assistance, and later brings a cooler of cold well water from the
folks at Glendevey, for the evac team's arrival at base.
Scott reaches Walter at 13:50, with the litter arrival at 13:52. Walter
is a wiry, leathery, fit person, and the Team quickly transfers him to
the vacuum bag in the litter and are on their way down at 14:09.
Jenn is designated on-scene medical, the first time for her to apply her
RN skills in the field. She does a fine job, and I am able to
relay (via Dispatch) a full set of vitals and patient status to
the responding ambulance crew. The ambulance arrives about 15
minutes before the litter team, which reaches base at 15:05. Jenn gives
her medical debriefing to the crew while the Team transfers Walter to
the gurney. When the ambulance crew decides they don't need to
keep Walter in the vacuum splint, Jenn and Mike perform a slick
removal of it while the others lift Walter clear -- I got a good
photo of that move. The FS volunteers will gather Walter's camping
items, put them in his vehicle, and keep it at the Ranger Station
until he can return. Sandy offers to
take Taffy back to town to Walter's wife Diana, and Walter agrees.
Richard will stay an extra day and make his Link Trail hike to the
McIntyre Burn on Saturday.
In town, Sandy talks with Diana a bit, giving her the details of the
situation, and learns that Walter had told Diana that he would be back
Saturday or Sunday, and not to worry until later on Sunday. Had
Richard not chosen the Link Trail on Friday, Walter could have been in
for a long wait ...
George Janson |
