Steep terrain at Halsey hampers rescue effort
By Dawn Bryant - North Platte Telegraph Correspondent
Published: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, used with permission.
Rescue personnel from the Thomas County Sheriff's Office, the Thedford
Rescue Squad and the Halsey Fire Department spent hours trying to rescue the
victim of a four-wheeler accident at the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey
Monday night. The rescue efforts were hampered by the steep terrain and narrow
trails as well as lack of the proper equipment to reach the patient, according
to rescue officials.
Thomas County Sheriff Gary Eng and the Thedford Rescue Squad were
called out at 10:25 p.m. to a man who dispatch said had "hit a tree." The
patient was located on the Dismal Trail.
North Platte ambulance took him to Great Plains Medical Center in
North Platte. Due to EMS HIPPA regulations, the victim's name was not released.
The victim, a 55-year-old man from Lincoln, told rescuers he had lost
control of his four-wheeler and hit a tree. He also told the EMS personnel that
he was alone and found himself under the four-wheeler, as well as impaled on a
stick. He said he the got the four-wheeler off himself, pulled the stick out and
"took a nap."
The accident occurred sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., but by the
time his companions found him, left someone to stay with him, went back to the
campground to tell his wife and got to where they had cell service, it was
nearly 10:30 p.m., and the patient was going into shock.
The ambulance arrived as close to the scene as the unit could get,
according to EMS Captain Tegwin Egle, but they were still several miles away
from the patient.
"Our crew traveled two miles by four-wheeler, then we had to carry him
almost three-quarters of a mile on foot to get him out," she said. "We had six
bystanders, four EMTs, two firefighters from the Halsey Fire Department, the
sheriff and the ambulance driver and we took turns carrying him." “We had him
strapped to a backboard and fully immobilized," Egle continued, "But there were
lots of hazards from tree roots, branches, poison ivy, mosquitoes and the steep
terrain to overcome."
Prior to evacuating the victim on foot, EMS personnel requested a
medical helicopter, but storms between Kearney and the forest and Scottsbluff
and the forest had both helicopters grounded, according to Egle.
"We asked for the (John Deere) Gator from Custer County, " Eng said,
"But it was already in use in Custer County for a search and rescue effort.
Valentine did not have one. Ainsworth called and would have come, but Brad
Sawyer and Tagg From Consolidated Telephone called and were going to bring the
company Polaris out."
"By the time they (Consolidated) got to us, we already had the patient
out on foot, "Eng said, "But we sure appreciate the offer of their help."
Terrain in the area a lot of four-wheeler aficionados enjoy the most
is hard to access by any other vehicle, according to Eng.
"It's such a remote area with such narrow trails," he said. "The
terrain is uneven and steep, with lots of trees and soft deep sand that hamper
rescue efforts greatly."
One thing that helped a lot with this rescue is that the patient was
still where he was supposed to be, Eng said.
"At least they told us where they were and stayed here," he said. "On
April 18 (2008) we had a similar rescue of a 54-year-old male from Broken Bow,
but after they called us, they moved the victim over six miles further away from
medical assistance. We found his bike, but couldn't find him."
The patient was still being carried out on foot at 11:46 p.m. and was
finally loaded into the ambulance at 12:30 a.m. The Thedford Ambulance tiered
(met) with a paramedic EMS unit from North Platte approximately 5 miles west of
the forest (10 miles east of Thedford) on Highway 2 at 12:58 a.m. The Thedford
Rescue Squad returned to service at 4:05 a.m.
At last report the patient was stable and hospital personnel were
considering moving him to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, according
to Egle.
Egle said NOHVA (Nebraska Off-Highway Vehicle Association donated a
trailer to the Thedford Rescue Squad to use for such rescues, but that the
trailer turned out to not be effective for what they needed to do with it.
"It was unwieldy and unsafe on the trails," she said. "EMS personnel
had to sit at the feet of the patient and were unable to monitor the patient
properly."
The forest officials provide nothing to aid with rescues on their
property, according to Egle - no personnel, no money and no equipment.
"Our goal is to be able to respond to the patient in a timely manner
once we have reached the forest," Egle said. "The equipment we have now is not
adequate to transport an injured person from the trail to a main access road
without serious delay in necessary medical care and without resulting in further
injury to the patient or to the EMS personnel providing care."
UPDATE #1: Since this article was written, Yamaha has approved a
grant amounting to at least $5000 to help fund a new Yamaha Rhino for the
Thedford Rescue Squad. The
Yamaha OHV Access Initiative is a
proactive, grassroots program supported by Yamaha dealers and customers
nationwide promoting safe, responsible riding and sustainable, open riding
areas.
UPDATE #2: In August of 2008 the NOHVA Board of Directors voted to donate $500 to the Thedford Rescue Squad. Additionally, the existing rescue trails that is no longer used will be sold by NOHVA and proceeds from the sale will be used to benefit the Thedford Rescue Squad.
UPDATE #3: Several NOHVA chapters plan to donate funds to the Thedford Rescue Squad as well. More on this later!
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