A crewmember on the Warm Springs Hot Shot Crew was seriously injured by a large falling rock while working on the Pyramid Butte fire in Oregon September 4, 2010. The complete Preliminary Report is HERE, but an excerpt is below.
This incident reminds us of the Deer Park fire serious injury and the Andrew Palmer fatality. The report for the Deer Park incident had this suggestion:
Agency aircraft are best suited to deal with accidents that occur on the fireline. More agency rotor-wing aircraft need to be equipped with the capability to perform extractions for medical emergencies. All methods of remote extraction should be evaluated and a standardized system of operation should be established. Our reliance on military and lifeflight helicopters to extract our most serious injuries needs to be reduced. These helicopters are not always available, and extraction capable agency helicopters would alleviate communication issues and provide more timely patient care.
As we said on August 27:
The U. S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles County Fire Department do this on a regular basis. Here are some links showing them in action:
LA County
Coast Guard
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(below is an excerpt from the Pyramid Butte fire accident report)
NUMBER & TYPE OF INJURIES/DAMAGE: One person – Warm Springs IHC crewmember, emergency transport to hospital via helicopter, injuries include basal skull fracture, fractured cheekbone, three fractured vertebrae, inter-cranial bleeding and internal bleeding. No other crewmembers were injured.
NARRATIVE:
On September 4, 2010 at approximately 1815 hours, crewmembers from the Warm Springs IHC were taking a break near the end of their shift on Division D of the Pyramid Butte Fire on the View Lake Complex. This location is in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area on the Mt. Hood National Forest, adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The crew had chosen a narrow, rocky gulley/ravine that provided some shelter from the wind as the location for their break. A crewmember was sitting up against the bank of the ravine when a large rock became dislodged from a point behind and just above him. The rock rolled down onto the crewmember, struck him mid-back, and continued to roll over his head forcing his body forward which pushed his face down with significant force into another large rock.
An EMT and wilderness first responder from the Prineville IHC who were working nearby, immediately responded to the accident site and performed the initial assessment. Due to the mechanism of injury and signs and symptoms, a backboard, c-collar and jump kit were requested within 5 minutes. Prineville IHC had the items at the PCT trailhead and they were brought to the scene of injury by Prineville crewmembers. Medic 1, located at a drop-point approximately 25 minutes away, was contacted and patient’s vital signs and status were relayed. Medic 1 then started travel to the PCT trailhead. Upon arrival of the backboard and c-collar, patient was immobilized using c-spine precautions.
Transport began down the PCT at approximately 1845 hours and the patient arrived at H-2, the closest helicopter evacuation site, at 1925 hours. Paramedic (Medic 1) walked in on the PCT and met the patient approximately halfway through backboard transit. Method of transportation to higher medical care was discussed. Given the nature of the injury, time of day, and length of time ground transport would have required over stretches of very rough, rocky roads, the decision was made to transport the patient by helicopter utilizing a Type 2 helicopter assigned to the incident. The helicopter was waiting at H-2 when the patient arrived there at 1925 hours. The helicopter lifted off H-2 at approximately 1930 hours and the patient was flown to Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. The helicopter landed at Emanuel Hospital at approximately 2000 hours.
The injured crewmember was wearing his hard hat and full PPE at the time. No one was working or seated above him at the time the rock dislodged.
Thanks Jim
