Mt Whitney Webcam
Mt Williamson Webcam
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 207 guests, and 16 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
#53518 06/15/18 12:17 PM
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124
M
OP Offline
M
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124

Inyo SAR:
Quote:
H-82 was called to to the Mt Whitney trail (12,000 ft) for a party that activated his In-Reach emergency locator. The hiker had become lost the previous evening and did not have overnight gear. He reported he was cold and had no more food or water. When morning came, he managed to make it to Trail Camp where he said he had hurt his knee and was unable to descend any further.

H-82 launched from Apple Valley equipped for a high altitude rescue, only to be met by a hiker who wanted a ride to his vehicle. He did not want transport to the hospital or airport where medical services were waiting. Apparently, he wasn’t as injured as he originally reported as he refused rescue and hiked out on his own because the helicopter would not land at his car.

Needless to say, please make sure you need help before you activate a locator beacon. Play safe out there!


Inyo Co. Sheriff's Dept:
Quote:
While we are happy this hiking/backpacking story has no life-threatening injuries, this is an important reminder for folks: please please do not activate your emergency satellite messaging device unless you absolutely need to.

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Maverick #53520 06/15/18 01:21 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
Wow. Reminds me of the old SPOT report years ago from Grand Canyon. Hikers were out somewhere and activated their SOS beacon.

From this link: National Parks Traveller: SPOT misuse at Grand Canyon

Quote:
On the evening of September 23rd, rangers began a search for hikers who repeatedly activated their rented SPOT satellite tracking device. The GEOS Emergency Response Center in Houston reported that someone in the group of four hikers – two men and their two teenaged sons – had pressed the "help" button on their SPOT unit. The coordinates for the signal placed the group in a remote section of the park, most likely on the challenging Royal Arch loop.

Due to darkness and the remoteness of the location, rangers were unable to reach them via helicopter until the following morning. When found, they’d moved about a mile and a half to a water source. They declined rescue, as they'd activated the device due to their lack of water.

Later that same evening, the same SPOT device was again activated, this time using the "911" button. Coordinates placed them less than a quarter mile from the spot where searchers had found them that morning. Once again, nightfall prevented a response by park helicopter, so an Arizona DPS helicopter whose crew utilized night vision goggles was brought in.

The state helicopter crew found that the members of the group were concerned about possible dehydration because the water they'd found tasted salty, but no actual emergency existed. The helicopter crew declined their request for a night evacuation, but provided them with water before departing.

On the following morning, another SPOT "help" activation came in from the group. This time they were flown out by park helicopter. All four refused medical assessment or treatment.

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Steve C #53531 06/15/18 04:08 PM
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124
M
OP Offline
M
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124

That's a total abuse of the system, those SAR teams put their lives at risk every time they respond to such incidents. They should fine abusers of the system, otherwise they will continue do it again.

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Maverick #53532 06/15/18 04:13 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
Mav, that G.C. report occurred maybe 10 years ago.

I am curious on the current report... I don't see it on the Inyo Co Sheriff's fb page, and Inyo SAR doesn't have a public site that I can find. When did the current report occur?

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Steve C #53534 06/15/18 05:50 PM
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124
M
OP Offline
M
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 124

Inyo Co Sheriff's FB page Steve, second post down, below the post of the kitchen.

Quote:
Inyo County Sheriff's Office shared a post.
Yesterday at 4:55pm



Last edited by Maverick; 06/15/18 05:52 PM.
Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Maverick #53542 06/15/18 10:13 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
Thank you Maverick. I skipped the text, because they posted that report with a picture from last week. ...thought I'd seen it already.
- - - - - -

Here's a better one. Shows how worthwhile it is to carry an InReach when hiking solo...


From CHP - Inland Division Air Operations (on facebook), posted 06/15/2018 7:24pm

Quote:
H-82 was requested to respond to Tuber Canyon in the Panamint Range west of Death Valley. A solo hiker intending to hike from Death Valley to the summit of Mt Whitney ran into some bad luck and ran out of water sooner than expected. To make matters worse, his planned en route water source had dried up. After being without water for 24 hours and with no water sources nearby, the hiker activated his In-Reach device and used the satellite messenger to send for help. Because the hiker had an In-Reach device, H-82 was able to quickly locate the hiker. H-82 landed off site nearby. When the crew contacted the hiker, he was severely dehydrated and suffering from heat exposure. The crew assisted the hiker and his gear to H-82 and transported him to Southern Inyo Hospital in Lone Pine for treatment.

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Steve C #53546 06/15/18 11:15 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,507
Likes: 103
Back to the Trail Camp incident in the first post above:

On FB, the same report exists, and there are several dozen comments calling the guy names, proposing he pay, calling him a moron, etc.

...then this: "Ran into this guy at trail camp yesterday. He was very very delirious and my buddy and I couldn't make out what he was talking about. He kept asking if a car could pick him up at trail camp. Not entirely sure what was going on."

This sounds like a possible HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) symptoms. People with that can die out there -- or walk out on their own. Dicey situation at least.

Re: Inyo SAR Incident & Reminder 6/14
Steve C #53675 06/25/18 09:25 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,253
W
Offline
W
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,253
I am not a big fan of these devices because too many who use the pull ripcord too soon and they lack a basic skill set. They encourage people to do things they should not be doing and put others at risk.


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.078s Queries: 30 (0.065s) Memory: 0.6103 MB (Peak: 0.6885 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-29 12:40:51 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS