rescue at Tahquitz yesterday?

#rescueforthegrambaby

Heres something to think about, you get lowered down onto a ledge and the victim says he feels short of breath, tightness in his chest, dizzy, he is pale and sweaty.  If he is 20 he is most likely just hyper venting.  You could sit for 30 minutes with him trying to get him to slow his breathing down but he could also be having an MI.  Without a cardiac monitor you can't tell.  Do you gamble and say you are probably just wigging out, man up and get yourself down or do you treat it like it could be something more serious?  

Kevin Mokracek wrote: Heres something to think about, you get lowered down onto a ledge and the victim says he feels short of breath, tightness in his chest, dizzy, he is pale and sweaty.  If he is 20 he is most likely just hyper venting.  You could sit for 30 minutes with him trying to get him to slow his breathing down but he could also be having an MI.  Without a cardiac monitor you can't tell.  Do you gamble and say you are probably just wigging out, man up and get yourself down or do you treat it like it could be something more serious?  

Exactly.  And once Rescue is involved, you’re trained (I presume) to err on the side of caution.  I’m sure allowing the injured party to talk him/herself out of rescue and subsequently dying doesn’t bode well on the annual review...

Kevin Mokracek wrote: Heres something to think about, you get lowered down onto a ledge and the victim says he feels short of breath, tightness in his chest, dizzy, he is pale and sweaty.  If he is 20 he is most likely just hyper venting.  You could sit for 30 minutes with him trying to get him to slow his breathing down but he could also be having an MI.  Without a cardiac monitor you can't tell.  Do you gamble and say you are probably just wigging out, man up and get yourself down or do you treat it like it could be something more serious?  

I'd tell him to give his balls a tug and make sure they are there still.

Just wondering how many of those giving the "just tough it out"  are Wilderness First Responders, thus maybe somewhat qualified to evaluate injuries and decide upon appropriate action.

Idaho Bob wrote: Just wondering how many of those giving the "just tough it out"  are Wilderness First Responders, thus maybe somewhat qualified to evaluate injuries and decide upon appropriate action.

Since Gumby and Pokey aka Tradiban hide behind their screen names they can spew all the ignorance they want.    

Also there is a big difference between a medical emergency and a traumatic injury.  I would be much more willing to let someone drag themselves out of the mountains with a broken leg if they wanted to that someone complaining of shortness of breath or chest pain.   Hats off to the guy who wants to crawl out after spraining and ankle or fracturing a leg, it might be dumb but probably not fatal.  

Idaho Bob wrote: Just wondering how many of those giving the "just tough it out"  are Wilderness First Responders, thus maybe somewhat qualified to evaluate injuries and decide upon appropriate action.

First responder training is very sobering.... 

So do we know WTF happened?

But this rescue talk is interesting.

How about when you don’t wish to be rescued?
I recall Harding/Caldwell refusing one on the Caption.
How about the time a climber and climber GF got beat up, arrested and almost killed by the Rescuers in Josh? Remember?

The Dude posts on MP so maybe he will chime in.

The GF fell leading, sufferers a really bad ankle injury... so they are self rescuing and are close to ground. LEOs show with SAR team in tow... they are told “we are just fine and we can limp out and take ourselves to ER”

LEOs starts asking questions about what happened. When informed that climber fell leading- greater then 15 feet with no helmet- they claimed Protocol takes over... we will rescue you!

Dude says No Way! Is immediately tackled, cuffed and arrested. Victim must now wait a long time for SAR to rig the last 20 feet of slab to get to ground.... helo arrives she is loaded in and off they go to ER... but not to JT ER no all the way to Palm Springs... because right after the loaded her up they gave her a shot of something... she went into cardiac arrest and was dead on arrival!

They were able to restart her heart and she spent 2 weeks in Intensive care.

This is true.. maybe the dude involved, who is sort of a regular on MP will fill in details.

Moral.... be careful

And Kevin: thanks for what you do/did!

Guy Keesee wrote: Dude says No Way! Is immediately tackled, cuffed and arrested. 

dude is tackled by SAR for no reason at all... my bullshit meter is spiking on this one

i'd love to hear this story from the SAR side...

Jason Voss wrote:

Yeah that just sounds weird. Is there a news article for this Guy?

Also, I don’t get why people don’t just wear a damn helmet?  It’s cheap and light insurance. 

I never use one.... except in Canada- why do you care about my personal safety? 

And the Dude was tackled by the LEOs.... not every thing makes the News papers. Maybe I can find out some information about the Lawsuit. 

Stops placing bad gear/falling  Master Gumchewer, then maybe you will stop breaking bones.

Guy Keesee wrote:

I never use one.... except in Canada- why do you care about my personal safety? 

And the Dude was tackled by the LEOs.... not every thing makes the News papers. Maybe I can find out some information about the Lawsuit. 

We care about your personal safety because we don't want to lose you and your informative stories.

Guy Keesee wrote: So do we know WTF happened?

But this rescue talk is interesting.

How about when you don’t wish to be rescued?
I recall Harding/Caldwell refusing one on the Caption.
How about the time a climber and climber GF got beat up, arrested and almost killed by the Rescuers in Josh? Remember?

The Dude posts on MP so maybe he will chime in...

I can't wait to hear this from the horse's mouth. 

ColinW wrote: I decked about 5 years ago after a 50 to 60 footer and had severe brain trauma and a broken neck.....Is it ok that I got airlifted out too?

Walk it off geez

Señor Arroz wrote:

Why do you have rescue in scare quotes?

Public safety agencies interact with people in various levels of injury and distress all day long. Good friend of mine is a LACFD Paramedic. They get everything from cars over the edge of PCH into the ocean to people who took too much Viagra. They roll out and assess. And provide treatment or rescues as needed.

Like Kevin said above, it's not a huge deal for a Riverside County FD chopper to rescue someone up on Tahquitz. It's in their job description, not an inconvenience. And sometimes the line between okay and needs to be in the hospital within an hour is pretty thin and hard to assess. Paramedics and SAR would rather head off a disaster than clean up after one.

Congrats! First acknowledgment of my use of scare quotes!

This guy must have been a volunteer or something as he was quite untrained in assessment, copter guys/gals were pros.

master gumby wrote:

I'd tell him to give his balls a tug and make sure they are there still.

BUWAHAHAHAHA you fucking poser.

WTF do you know about emergency medicine and how to diagnose chest pain and all the things in the differential that affect young people too?

Nothing.

Kev sounds like a pretty solid medic. Good on 'ya, Kev.

Jeffrey Constine wrote: Stops placing bad gear/falling  Master Gumchewer, then maybe you will stop breaking bones.

Who said if your not falling your not trying? Could you help me out? ;)

In regard to helmets, they are overrated. How will a helmet protect your noggin from a block falling? Besides they give you a false sense of security.

master gumby wrote:

Who said if your not falling your not trying? Could you help me out? ;)

In regard to helmets, they are overrated. How will a helmet protect your noggin from a block falling? Besides they give you a false sense of security.

Well if you had hit your head on that upside down fall I caught you on, it probably would have saved your life... or at least saved a couple of the few remaining brain cells.

master gumby wrote: In regard to helmets, they are overrated. How will a helmet protect your noggin from a block falling? Besides they give you a false sense of security.

Pretty much the dumbest train of thought on the subject and proof you already have suffered a major head injury.