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Kudos to Nye County Search and
Rescue!
After a weekend wilderness rescue
exercise, two off-road rescues performed just one week later...
NYE
COUNTY, NEVADA
BY: MIKE BRADY
MARCH 15, 2010
Members of Nye County Search and Rescue -- Tonopah Unit, plus firefighters
from Tonopah VFD, along with emergency responders from Eureka, Esmeralda and Lander counties, completed a weekend wilderness
rescue training exercise on Sunday, February 21, 2010. The location for this training, McKinney Tanks, off US Highway 6 approximately 18 miles east of Tonopah,
is an abandoned old west stage coach stop and livestock watering hole. With the aid of Boy Scouts from BSA Troop 17 in Tonopah
as victims, the exercise covered all aspects of rescue missions in desert wilderness areas.
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The
exercise ended with a scenario which included multiple victims with varying injuries sustained when the Scouts' anchor gave
way while rappelling. The off road emergency response included incident command, scene assessment, requesting additional assets,
triage, packaging and transport of multiple victims from the scene to an ambulance staging area. With four patients and a
half mile of rocky high desert terrain to cover, responders utilized a four wheel drive 'MULE' off-road utility vehicle from
Tonopah VFD and Nye County SAR's 'All Terrain Res-Q' trailer for moving
the most seriously injured of the boys. With limited resources, the patient transport trailer allows for the team's technical
rescue gear to be transported in the vehicle bed while carrying a patient and EMT on the trailer. After the exercise participants packed up for home. With sporadic
run volume year round, and even fewer rescue missions in winter, members didn't expect to put lessons learned this weekend
to use for weeks. However, as emergency responders know, the call for rescue can come at any time. In Nye County's case, the
call came just one week later.
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Nye County
SAR Responds to Dunes ATV Accident NYE
COUNTY, NEVADA
BY: MIKE BRADY
MARCH 15, 2010 On Sunday, February 28, 2010, at 1400 hours, Nye County Ambulance Service -- Tonopah Unit was dispatched to reports
of a 4-wheeler accident with multiple injuries at Crescent Sand Dunes 10 miles north of Tonopah. Following standard operating procedures, Nye County Search and Rescue and Tonopah
Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to the scene as well. According to Patty Winters, Nye County EMS Coordinator: "Typical of small desert communities, the automatic dispatch of all
three agencies saves valuable time and insures an adequate number of emergency personnel with specialized off-road rescue
equipment are headed to the scene."
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Upon
arrival at the Crescent Sand Dunes parking area, emergency personnel found the adult female passenger from the 4-wheeler accident,
despite being injured, had managed to walk out almost two miles to the parking lot and called 911 for help. She advised
that the adult male operator of the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) was laying at the bottom of a sand dune with serious multiple
injuries. The two had been riding a single seat sport type ATV in unfamiliar desert terrain when they crested a dune at an
unsafe speed and tumbled approximately 30 feet to the bottom of a sand bowl. Upon reaching the ATV operator's location he was treated at the scene for neck,
back, chest, and leg injuries by EMTs from Tonopah Volunteer EMS and Nye County SAR. After the patient was packaged for transport
in a basket stretcher, rescuers loaded him onto the patient transport trailer. Towed by the Tonopah VFD's 4X4 MULE, Nye County
Search and Rescue's 'All Terrain Res-Q' off-road rescue trailer is
the first of its kind in Nevada.
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A
transport team consisting of two Nye County SAR EMTs and a UTV driver from Tonopah VFD safely transported the victim to a
waiting ambulance, almost two miles away over soft desert sand, in just 10 minutes! Requiring only three personnel and 10
minutes to perform the carry out portion of this rescue mission not only saved time, it allowed other EMTs to provide care
for the passenger's less serious injuries while her companion was being hauled out. According to Rick Motis, Commander of Nye County Search and Rescue -- Tonopah Unit: "Without the patient trailer, this rescue mission would have required
6 to 10 more personnel and almost three hours to carry the victim out. Also, the use of a trailer greatly reduces risk of
injuries to rescuers as they're not required to carry patients out while traversing soft sand or other hazards common to the
high desert terrain. When dealing with emergencies in remote locations like the Crescent Sand Dunes, minutes saved often translates
into lives saved!"
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When
the transport team arrived at the ambulance, the backboarded patient was transferred from the basket stretcher to an
ambulance stretcher without need of further packaging; saving still more time! After ground transport to a local hospital, the 4-wheeler's passenger was treated for her injuries and
released. However, after being stabilized at the Tonopah Regional Medical Center, the ATV operator was flown by a medical
ICU fixed wing aircraft to a trauma center in Reno for treatment of his more serious injuries. At last report both patients
are recovering. Established in 1964, the all
volunteer Nye County Search & Rescue is based in Tonopah, Nevada. For more information about Nye
County SAR -- Tonopah Unit, contact Rick Motis at: rdmotis@frontier.com.
For more information on 'All Terrain Res-Q' contact Mike Brady at: EEResQ@cs.com .
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