Search and Rescue vs Intensive Care
So despite having worked in emergency and intensive care, being out on the rescue side of it was quite an experience.
The hostel where I work heads up the Search and Rescue Team for the Red River Gorge, so whenever there is a lost hiker or someone injured, we get the call from 911. I had never been out on any though they happen quite frequently.
At 6:30 a.m. we were awoken by someone who said that the night before, 2 of his friends and him had been hiking around and his 2 friends had fallen off the cliffline. The one who had not fallen had become disoriented while trying to make his way out so he had waited until sunrise to go get help.
We called in the other members of the team as well as EMS and as many people as we could get, knowing we would have to lift them up a cliffline.
We headed out, a small group of 6 at first, and were led to the cliffline. The 2 victims were about 100 yards apart, one had gone in to try and help the other one, had fallen and then tried to walk out. So, we set up anchors on some trees and a couple people rappelled down to get to the victims while the rest of us set up a haul system and cleared a path out of the woods. It was hard to find the second victim because though he was calling to us, we were in a small hollow and sounds were distorted. He was deep in the woods and a trail had to be blazed to be able to carry him out. About 2 hours in, we finally had about 20 more people and the victims had been carried to the cliffline. One with an apparent broke femur and the other with a broken shoulder with bone showing. Both had been there overnight, it was cold, and the one who was furthest away was the one we were most worried about. By 11:30 after an exhausting couple of hours, we had them both up the cliffline and headed out to waiting ambulances and helicopters.
A call today from the friend that was with them told us they were both okay, needing surgeries for their fractures and one had a punctured lung, but both expected to recover. They were very lucky.
It was an interesting experience to be in there, actually working on the rescue. The adrenaline was pumping which prevented the exhaustion from setting in till later. It certainly gave me a taste of what can happen to victims before they get to the hospital.
Lessons learnt: drinking and hiking the woods in the dark is not a good idea. Red River Gorge has 1.5 deaths a year due to this. And they say climbing is dangerous. There hasn't been a death from climbing in 50 years in this area. Sport rappellers, of which there are many in this area, are another story.
The hostel where I work heads up the Search and Rescue Team for the Red River Gorge, so whenever there is a lost hiker or someone injured, we get the call from 911. I had never been out on any though they happen quite frequently.
At 6:30 a.m. we were awoken by someone who said that the night before, 2 of his friends and him had been hiking around and his 2 friends had fallen off the cliffline. The one who had not fallen had become disoriented while trying to make his way out so he had waited until sunrise to go get help.
We called in the other members of the team as well as EMS and as many people as we could get, knowing we would have to lift them up a cliffline.
We headed out, a small group of 6 at first, and were led to the cliffline. The 2 victims were about 100 yards apart, one had gone in to try and help the other one, had fallen and then tried to walk out. So, we set up anchors on some trees and a couple people rappelled down to get to the victims while the rest of us set up a haul system and cleared a path out of the woods. It was hard to find the second victim because though he was calling to us, we were in a small hollow and sounds were distorted. He was deep in the woods and a trail had to be blazed to be able to carry him out. About 2 hours in, we finally had about 20 more people and the victims had been carried to the cliffline. One with an apparent broke femur and the other with a broken shoulder with bone showing. Both had been there overnight, it was cold, and the one who was furthest away was the one we were most worried about. By 11:30 after an exhausting couple of hours, we had them both up the cliffline and headed out to waiting ambulances and helicopters.
A call today from the friend that was with them told us they were both okay, needing surgeries for their fractures and one had a punctured lung, but both expected to recover. They were very lucky.
It was an interesting experience to be in there, actually working on the rescue. The adrenaline was pumping which prevented the exhaustion from setting in till later. It certainly gave me a taste of what can happen to victims before they get to the hospital.
Lessons learnt: drinking and hiking the woods in the dark is not a good idea. Red River Gorge has 1.5 deaths a year due to this. And they say climbing is dangerous. There hasn't been a death from climbing in 50 years in this area. Sport rappellers, of which there are many in this area, are another story.
posted by Kim at 2:26 PM
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