by Josiah922
Part 1
The 2 way Motorola
radio sounded the alarm through out the house. “Beep! Beep! Beep!” went
the alarm. The mother and daughter looked at each other for they knew
what it meant. The dad ran into the living room just in time to here the
announcement.
“Randolf Search and Rescue … Randolf Search and Rescue. Mutual aid for
Liberty County …Mutual Aid for Liberty County. They are reporting that
there is a missing couple (one male 29 years old and one female 30 years
old) in Liberty Park and are requesting that you bring man power and
any 4 wheelers to assist in search. Please respond.”
Mike picked up the radio. Susan looked at him, “It is your daughter’s recital.”
“Mom I don’t care about the stupid recital. It is just the Fall Festival
morning recital. We can go tonight. Dad let me go with you. I can
help,” said Sarah a lovely youth of seventeen dressed up in kaki colored
skirt, white blouse and black pumps. The outfit was the required
uniform of the Randolf Academy orchestra and was being worn by all of
its female participants.
She was actually a junior member of the volunteer rescue squad. Which
meant that she could join, but only with the permission of her parents
and only in a limited capacity. The department did land and water
searches for the entire county. As a junior member she was kept from the
really rough stuff. She was not allowed to dive during body retrieval
dives and she was closely kept from serious harms way.
Mike keyed the radio, “Eleven hundred to all Randolf units. Meet at the
station. Eleven hundred to all Randolf units. Meet at the station.”
It is not like he had to say that to his team members. They knew the
drill. This was the 4th search that they had participated in the last 3
months. However, Mike liked to answer up so everyone knew he was on his
way.”
Mike looked from mother to daughter then back to mother. “She wants to go….”
“Fine, but you got to let her be a young lady some time. You know,”
Susan said to both as one ran to change her clothes and the other to get
their packs.
In under a minute the two were at the door ready to go. Sarah looked at her Mom, “I will sing at church Sunday. How about that?”
Her mother loved to hear her sing. She smiled and straightened the bangs
of her hair that was now pulled back into a pony tail. “You just come
back safe.”
“I will Mom.” Sarah said as she gave her mom a hung. She then picked up both packs and left through the door.
Susan looked at Mike, “And YOU find those folks and get back here before tonight.”
Mike smiled a flirty grin, “You know I’m part hound dog.” He the sniffed up and down her neck till she giggled.
Mike looked serious, “I love you.”
“Love you too,” replied Susan. “Let me know where and I will bring up
the supply truck.” This of course meant her own SUV stacked with water
and food to resupply the department in the field. Mike winked at her as
he walked out the door.
Part 2
After a few minutes of waiting for more to arrive, the group of 4 was on
its way North to Liberty Park. Since this was a volunteer organization,
response from the members was at the choice of the member. If they were
working or some kind of important family matter was happening, the
member was automatically excused. However, they all tried to respond to
the majority of calls. More than once this meant being pulled away from
the dinner table or out of the bed to go help some one.
The two emergency vehicles were nothing more than two Ford Diesel 4x4
F-350’s. At three years old, unit eleven o’ one was practically brand
new. Unit eleven o’ two was little older pushing 14 years old. Mike
insisted on staggering the units’ age apart so they would not need
replacing at the same time. The rescue boat and trailer was left at the
barn and replace with a normal trailer. Both trucks pulled a trailer,
one with a personally owned four wheeler from Walt Johnson (a long
standing member of the department) and the other hauling ‘the green
machine’ an amphibious Argo 6x6 Frontier 650.
There was very little money from the county being given to the group.
There was enough to handle one payment for a truck and a little for new
equipment and a little training here and there. The Argo was given to
the department at cost by the new outdoor power sports store that opened
up in the area. However, the group had what they needed.
The search and rescue squad arrived at the command post 30 minutes
later. Mike had been on the phone most of the way up talking to the
Sherriff of Liberty County. He had gotten the cell number of the
Sherriff from Randolf County dispatch. He let the Sherriff know what man
power they had in route, the estimated time of arrival and also got
briefed on what exactly the situation was. Nancy Lewis and Jerry Hugh
were hiking in the park. The couple had been missing 14 hours.
They parked their vehicles in the parking lot of the guest center and
started unloading the four wheeler and the green machine. The Sherriff
had instructed them to make there way down to the West side of the lake
and they wasted no time. Walt had his four wheeler and Jim manned the
green machine. Jim would drop Sarah and Mike at the foot of Shoe Horn
Gorge to “walk in”. The gorge was one of the favored hide away spots
that adventure seekers risked themselves to get to. Normally it would be
about a 2 mile hike to get there but the green machine would help with
that.
In normal search and rescue they used a “Creeping Line Ahead” approach
which is basically what it sounds like. A line of search personnel and
volunteers would slowly walk forward through the woods. However, the
many miles of Liberty Park makes the logistics of such a search
unreasonable.
The searchers headed down around the side of the lake stopping every
minute turning off their engines, yelling the names of the missing
couple and then listening for several seconds while looking with their
eyes for signals. After nothing was detected they traveled another
minute and repeated the process.
Walt broke from the group and headed West from the lake into a small
valley. The next stop was Shoe Horn Gorge. The father and daughter team
took their day packs and headed into the gorge. Jim continued on North
to turn West from the lake a little further on ahead.
“Well, here we go,” Mike looked at his daughter. “I need you to walk
straight up the gorge ok? I am gonna walk up this side and stay on top.
Be careful. Go slow.”
“Yes sir. I will.” She flipped her pack over her shoulder and started down the gorge.
Part 3
The Autumn air was a little chilly to Sarah even though it was a little
after noon. She pulled her sleeves down on the sweat shirt she was
wearing. She had a jacket secured to the top of her pack, but it wasn’t
THAT cold. The sun felt good and the sound of the water was wonderful.
She hopped to another boulder and then another. She looked up for her
father. She had not heard him yell in a minute or two and she knew to
keep close to him although the gorge was a good 300 feet high at this
point. She reached the bank successfully crossing the stream in the
middle of the gorge.
“Jerry!.........Nancy!” she yelled and then immediately stood still and listened carefully. “Nothing,” she thought.
She looked up the bank and continued walking up the gorge. She checked
her compass out of habit more than necessity. She couldn’t get lost in
the gorge. Two miles back East was the lake, forward West was more
woods. This doesn’t take a great mind to figure that one out.
She kept going about another 50 yards and yelled again, “Nancy Lewis!! …….. Jerry Hugh!!!” Stay still…………nothing.
Another 50 yards and the gorge turns South for a while. Sarah heard a
deeper voice on the wind, “Jerry! ….. Nancy!” She stopped and listened
while looking up for her father again. There he was out at the edge of
the gorge. 300 feet looks a lot higher from above than it does below,
but she still thought that it was high. She waved. Her Dad waved back
with one hand and the other on the radio. Her father would have to
negotiate the corner before he could follow her on up through the
valley. She turned and continued on around the corner of bend in the
gorge.
Sarah prayed as she kept on, “Dear God. Protect us today. Protect these
hikers. Give me the strength to help them. Give me wisdom. Thank you for
your grace in times of trouble.” The thoughts of her prayer strayed.
The valley was quiet peaceful. A stream ran through the middle of the
valley of the gorge weaving its way around medium sized boulders. Small
trees grew out of the ground between the boulders here and there. The
stream was run off from the lake to her back and it had cut its home
into the hill for more years that Sarah knew.
Watching her step she continued up to the point where the gorge opened
up a bit and a small pool had formed. She bent down and looked at her
reflection in the water. Dipped her hand in the stream and wiped the
water on her face. She looked across the stream at the brush on the
other side and the woman’s tennis shoe lying slightly out of the water.
Part 4
Time sped up. She was moving too slow. In a split second she realized she wasn’t moving at all, just standing there looking.
Her Father’s voice came to her, “Being Brave does mean not being scared.
It means being scared but doing the right thing anyways.” Pow! Reality
hit.
She moved toward the stream then stopped. The stream was only about 20
feet across, but might be deeper than she realized. She looked for her
dad, but he was a still negotiating the turn. She looked back to the
shoe. “Nancy!” she stayed still and listened. Nothing. “Nancy!” she
yelled again. No movement.
She reached into the pocket on her pack. She pulled out her whistle. She
blew a long loud sound. One long tone means danger/emergency. It would
signal to her father.
She looked back across the stream as she sensed movement. A female
scream pierced her ears as the shoe moved and a terrified woman sat up
from the bushes. Sarah called to her realizing that the whistle scared
her, “Hey …. Hey there…. Nancy Lewis?”
The woman started crying, “Yes! God Yes.”
“It’s ok. It’s ok. I am with the Randolf Volunteer Search and Rescue. We
are gonna get you out of here,” said Sarah with the calmest voice she
could muster.
“You? You’re just a kid,” Nancy said as she looked around for someone else.
“Hang on just a second,” said Sarah as she wipped her pack off and laid
it on the ground. Sarah grabbed her whistle again and blew one long
blast and looked to the rim of the gorge. Still no sign of her father.
“Why are you blowing that?” Nancy asked.
“So my fa…… fellow rescuers will hear.”
She quickly unlatched the 50 foot wrapping of 11mm Blue Water Enduro
rope that each pack contained. She unspoiled it with a flick and tossed
one end to Nancy. “Tie that around the log you were laying beside.”
Nancy looked stunned, then started to cry. Sarah firmed up, “Now!”
Nancy popped back to reality and started tying the rope. As soon as she
had it tied Sarah started wading across. Nancy started crying, “please
hurry! Jerry’s hurt.” She looked up for her Dad, but stayed focused when
her foot gave way a bit. She steadied herself then continued.
She reached the other side and pulled herself up the bank. Nancy continued to cry. She thought, “What now?”
Her Dad’s voice from the training class came back to her, “Let’s say you
come up to a scene and there are two patients. One is sitting quiet and
the other one is screaming ‘Help me! Help me! Please help me!’ which
one do you go to first?”
She remembered answering, “The one screaming for their life.”
He immediately answered, “No. Always remember your ABC’s.”
Sarah popped back to reality. A = Airway, B = Breathing and C =
Circulation. If Nancy was crying her eyes out, then she had all three.
She looked for Jerry.
There on the other side of the tree trunk was a handsome man. His leg
was lying unnaturally. She sat her pack down and knelt beside him. Sarah
pulled out a pair of gloves from the med pack and put them on her
hands. She felt cold from the water, but she had to stay focused. She
put her ear above his mouth. She heard breaths. She thought, “OK he is
breathing. That means his heart is beating and he has an airway.”
She took the middle knuckles of one hand and rubbed up and down on his
chest bone in the middle of his chest and called his name, “Jerry…..
Jerry can you wake up?” This is called applying painful stimuli. If the
patient does not respond to it, then he is definitely in bad shape.
“Nancy come here,” Sarah said in her most professional voice. “What is
wrong with him?” It was a simple question, but an open ended one that
made the woman tell what she thought was important to his condition.
“I don’t know. He fell while climbing down the side. He broke his leg
and now he won’t wake up anymore. I was lying with him to keep him warm
and fell asleep. We didn’t sleep all night.”
Her father’s voice was in her head again, “Shock can be caused by
several things. Loss of blood, loss of the ability of the heart to pump
or an allergic reaction. Initial symptoms of shock include cold, clammy
hands and feet; pale or blue-tinged skin tone; weak, fast pulse rate;
fast rate of breathing; low blood pressure. If the person has a faint or
non existent radial pulse, then they are in or near going into shock.
Treatment includes keeping the patient warm, with legs raised and head
down to improve blood flow to the brain……..”
“Where did you climb in at?”
Part 5
“Right above us. See the ropes going to that lower ledge?”
A far off whistle pierced the air three times. Sarah looked up and
scanned the rim again. A flash. Her father was using his signaling
mirror too. She waved to him with both arms. She saw him doing something
with his hands. No doubt talking on the radio.
She looked at the patient again. Jerry’s head was propped up because he was still wearing his backpack.
Sarah reached into her pack and took out a C Collar. The C collar was a
brace worn around the cervical vertebrae of the neck. It stabilizes the
neck against movement. If his neck was injured, this would help protect
it from further injury. She positioned Nancy at the head of the man’s
body and placed her hands on both sides of his head. “Keep his head
still why I put this on him.” She quickly placed the C Collar on him.
She looked up to her father again. He had his binoculars out looking at
them. She looked down and grabbed the bundle of rope in one hand and
held it high. She took her arm and pointed to where the couple hand
descended into the gorge valley. Mike still stood there looking. She
thought, “come on Dad. Figure it out.” She waved her arm again and he
stopped looking through the field glasses. She continued to look at him
and she saw a few more flashes from his mirror. Then he vanished into
the woods.
She turned her attention back to her patient. She reached on her side
and pulled out her full tang bushman’s knife. “OK, we need to get this
pack off.” She quickly cut through the two shoulder harnesses holding
the climbing gear. Nancy pulled the pack out from under him while Sarah
held his shirt in her hands trying to keep his back as straight as she
could. She laid him back in the sand.
Pulling out the heavy pack also made a nice low spot where his back and
neck could lay keeping his head lower than the rest of his body. Sarah
looked under his shirt very quickly. There was some bruising, but no
blood. She then looked at the seemingly unhurt leg. “Did he complain of
his other leg any?”
Nancy wiped her forehead as she said, “No. He was moving it a little this morning.”
Sarah examined the leg as best she could then picked up the leg and
elevated it on a branch of the tree. “This will help move a little blood
from that leg up into his body. Get that jacket off of my pack and wrap
him up in it.”
She turned her attention to the hurt leg. His pants leg was not bloody,
but it was definitely broken. She used her knife again to cut the pants
leg so she could see. Again no blood, but she could clearly see that his
leg was purple and that there was a break.
Once again her memory pulled the answer from a speech her father gave,
“When finding a broken bone, Emergency splinting may be required to
immobilize the body part or parts involved. Try to splint the bone as
close to its normal position as possible. Also remember to check the
pulse of the limb involved to make sure that the break is not
constricting the flow of blood.”
She reached for the laces of his shoe and cut through them quickly. She
pulled down his sock and felt on the top of the foot for a palpable foot
pulse. She did not feel a pulse. “That means no or diminished pulse,”
she thought. She had no choice.
Holding the lower leg with one hand at the ankle and one at the calf,
she pulled the ankle away from the knee and tried to straighten the leg.
Jerry stirred and cried out. “Good that means he is doing better.”
After getting the broken leg straightened, she checked for a pulse on
top of the foot again. Still nothing, but that might be because he was
in shock.
Sarah looked around for something to brace the leg with. She immediately
began to work on the branches of the tree with her bushman’s knife. It
was slower to cut the branches than she wanted, but she got some smaller
ones done quickly enough. She took some of the Euduro rope she had used
earlier and fashioned a brace placing the branches on either side of
the break. She secured the branches above and below the break. She felt
for a pulse again and thought she felt a very slight pulse.
She signed a long sign, “OK, how about you? Are you ok?”
Part 6
The helicopter was loud, so loud. It was out of place here. This place
didn’t move like that. This place was more steady than the metal animal
that defied the wind.
It had gone some time ago. Her Dad was there now. Arriving just minutes
after giving Nancy some trail mix Sarah had in her pack. He had seen
that the patients were loaded on the rescue basket and they were safely
pulled up the rope and in the helicopter. She sat on the ground sipping
water from her canteen and then placing her forehead in her hand.
It was quiet now. Pain and soreness began to replace the adrenaline.
She heard her dad’s voice, “You were so strong.”
She did not move but remembered her prayer, “Give me the strength to help them.”
Her dad said again, “And so wise.”
Her voice echoed in her mind, “Give me wisdom.”
He knelt beside her and said as he hugged her, “I am so proud of you.”
They both cried. “I am sorry that I wasn’t with you. I won’t make you do that again.”
She straightened a bit and looked her father in the face, “But dad you
were with me. Everything I did came from you.” She hugged him again and
sat for a while being quite and steady like the world that they were in.
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