At approximately 1130 hours on Wednesday, August 4th,
Endwell Fire and the Union Volunteer Ambulance Squad (UVES) were
dispatched to Robinson Hill Road for a male who had fallen and was
unconscious in the area formally known as the IBM Glen. Endwell
Assistant Chiefs Kopcho and Shoemaker responded directly to the incident
while the members of the Rope Rescue team responded in to station #1
(Country Club Road) and took Rescue 31-9 and Brush 31-2.
Upon arrival on the scene, we were advised
that the victim, an amateur rock climber, was located in a gorge
approximately one-half mile from the road. The rope rescue equipment which the team anticipated would be
required for the rescue offloaded and placed in the Stokes basket (a
large wire basket for carrying patients) for transport down the paved
trail to the incident site. Since
the gate at the top of the trail was chained and padlocked, to expedite
our response, members of the team started down the hill on foot with the
Stokes and additional equipment. The
padlock on the gate was cut and Brush 31-2 eventually was able to
navigate the paved path and transport the rescue equipment the remainder
of the way down the trail. Due to
the terrain, neither Rescue 9 nor the ambulance could access the
area where the rescue was to take place.
Upon reaching the end of the paved trail, we
were faced with a descent of approximately 100 feet down a slope
estimated to be at 40 degrees, made slippery by leaves and the recent
monsoons, to reach the area where the victim had fallen. A line was lowered to assist personnel in descending the slippery
slope. Once the team reached the face of the cliff, Asst.
Chief Shoemaker attempted to determine the exact location of the victim.
While the Team, under the direction of the Haul
Captain, Jon Toombs, organized the ropes and hardware to be utilized on
a tarp. Numerous anchors in the form one-foot diameter trees to
which the anchor systems and rigging could be secured were readily
available.
Once the victim was located in a creek bed at the
bottom of what was estimated to be an 80 feet deep gorge, a line was
rigged allowing a rope rescue crew consisting of firefighter/paramedic
Crutcher and firefighter/EMT Grafton to rappel into the gorge with
medical bags to assist the patient. While the med crew was performing patient assessment, two
additional members of the team descended on the line with the Stokes
basket and backboard and assisted in packaging the patient for
extraction from the gorge. During this time, the remainder of the crew
was engaged in rigging a main line hauling system with a 3:1 mechanical
advantage and the belay line, both utilizing substantial sized trees as
anchors. Also, due to the number of saplings and downed tree branches, a considerable amount of
landscaping was required to insure that the hauling lines would not be
subject to abrasion or entanglement. While the recovery system was being prepared, personnel in the
gorge considered several alternative methods of patient extraction. However, it was determined that bringing the patient directly up
the face of the gorge, some sections nearly vertical, was the safest and
most expeditious method.
As a result of the inability to bring the ambulance
into the area of the rescue, UVES was requested to respond it’s ATV to
the incident.
When the team members at the key positions
were ready, the order to haul was given, and extraction of the patient
began with firefighter Kevin Fiacco controlling the main line and
firefighter Ray Watson on the belay line. Firefighters Jim Hall and Brian Davidson, along with the med crew,
were raised with the Stokes basket containing the patient. The remainder
of the fifteen team members that responded to the call acted as
“mules” hauling on the main line to raise the patient and rescuers
from the abyss. Retrieval
of the patient required approximately repetitions of hauling and resetting the main line before the Stokes and
the attending crewmembers crested the edge of the gorge. The patient and stokes bearers then continued up the previously
mentioned 40 degree slope to the UVES ATV which was waiting on the paved
trail. After being secured on the ATV, the patient and the UVES
EMS personnel were transported to the ambulance waiting on Robinson Hill
Road and then to the Hospital. Total time of the rescue was
approximately one and one half hours.
Brush 2 and the ATV were then utilized to return the team
and equipment to the road to reload the equipment on Rescue 9. Upon returning to Station 1, all ropes and hardware was layed
out, washed and inspected for damage before being returned to the “in
service” status.
