ststephen
08-08-2009, 12:40 PM
On my first backpacking trip with my SPOT I activated the 911 function yesterday. Here's a long account of what led up to needing it. Because it involved a slowly progressing condition it's hard to describe briefly.
This was a trip of 4 Boy Scouts and 4 adults. The medical problem involved one of the adults: myself, my wife, a 20 year old "graduated" Eagle scout and another dad of one of the scouts. The other dad had the medical problem. I'll call him "Dad".
I had the group car camp for two nights near our trail head at 7600 feet to help acclimate for the trip. Our first day of hiking took us from 7800 to 9700 but then back down to 7100 feet and only 5.5 miles. Dad was carrying a heavy pack (I had tried to encourage him to take less lunch food) but at least that weight would lessen as we continued. At dinner Dad complained of some heart burn and asked if we had anything. I had about 10 Pepto tablets in my first aid kit and gave him two.
On day 2 Dad ate breakfast but a small portion still saying he had some heartburn. Day 2's hike involved dropping into a meadow at 6000, climbing a bit, a river valley at 6200 feet and then climbing back up to 7600 over the course of 8.9 miles. At the river valley (mile 6.5) Dad was in great spirits and energetic, playing in the river with his son. Unsure of campsite availability I split the group and went ahead with some of the fast boys to climb the last 2.4 miles. I then hiked back down the trail to see how the others were doing. I found them about .5 miles back moving slowly but it was the 20 year old who was especially slow and setting the pace. I asked to take the 20 year old's pack but he refused. Dad meanwhile did seem tired and wanted me to "try" his pack to see how heavy it was. I told him it was heavy, perhaps a pound or two more than mine. Then the 20 year old relented to let me take his pack to camp.
At camp Dad immediately set up his tent and laid down. He said he had some chills and was shivering a bit and that his heart burn was still bothering him. At dinner I gave Dad all the Pepto tablets so that he could self-medicate as needed. He ate very meagerly again but said he was drinking water. He was adamant that he'd be OK and did not want to ruin the boy's chance to earn their 50-mile badge. Breakfast again had Dad eating almost nothing. We hiked 4 more miles to an alpine lake at 8200 feet for our lunch stop. Both Dad and the 20 year old were acting extremely fatigued at the lake. My plan had been to continue over a pass at 10,700 and camp at a lake around 10,000 but it was clear they were not ready for that today. Dad was still hopeful of completing a loop and there were two short cuts available back to our trailhead (I had planned this) as our route turned back south after the pass. At this lake I questioned both the Dad and the 20 year old extensively and we discussed our options. When Dad still could not eat anything I learned that he had been experiencing this (now very severe) acid reflux even when car camping. His ability to drink water was now impared as well. The 20 year old was also very lethargic.
Dad was concerned about ruining the trip and wanted me to continue with some of the boys and insisted he'd be OK to go back while rationing the remaining Pepto tablets. I have to admit I considered this option but thankfully rejected it and we determined we would now all retreat back the same path tomorrow.
On Day 4, I took a lot of weight from both Dad's and the 20 year old's pack and redistributed it. Unfortunately because Dad packed too much lunch food that he had not eaten at all there was a lot of weight to distribute. I let Dad start off back down the trail while I took some photos. Dad flew down the trail before I could catch them. At some switch backs below a gorge I yelled down to wait for my wife who is very strong but needs to move at a slow steady pace downhill and especially with her now excessively heavy pack. Even the 20 year old now had lots of energy (I think his problem was mostly psychological not physical).
Dad wanted to push to make our first camp (12.9 miles) so that he could releive his discomfort sooner. Both he and the 20 year old kept up a fast pace all the way back to the river valley, faster than my wife and son (the youngest of the group) who was struggling a bit with her heavy pack.
At the meadow, with 4 miles and 1100 feet of climbing ahead I was again concerned about finding a campsite because there were very few at the place we stayed on the first night. I and the fast boys went first and I instructed Dad to go slowly and rest often. After securing a camp spot I packed a fanny pack with a jacket, first aid and energy bars and headed back down the trail. Dad was only 20 minutes behind the fast group but had obviously pushed himself too hard.
At camp I had him get into his sleeping bag. Before doing so he tried to take some much needed water but could not keep it down. Afterward he was able to keep down some small sips. I made him some miso soup (thinking he need to replace salt) and he was able to nurse that cup and finally finish after an hour or so. We measured his pulse rate at 80 bpm which seemed high but not alarming. He ate nothing that day at all except a few sips of cold "hot" chocolate. Searching our collective first aid kits I found 2 packets of 2 antacid tablets which I gave to him before bedtime.
In the morning I learned he had used all of the tablets in the night to relieve his pain. I wished I had kept 2 for the hike out. He had about half a cup of miso soup. The final 5.5 miles involved a 2600 foot gain and 1800 foot loss. I forced the group to take a very slow pace and we made good progress for the first half mile or so. But then Dad needed more frequent and longer rests. He was in obvious extreme pain and could drink only tiny sips. I had him suck on salty nuts and sweet candy to try to balance electrolytes and give him some energy. I now forced him to walk exactly as I paced with measured mountaineer's rest steps and made sure he was economizing all motion. Soon we also made the decision to leave his pack. But after continuing about .1 mile he asked if I had taken his meds from his pack. "Meds? What Meds"? Some allergy meds and also something for the heart palpitations he sometimes had! WTF!! That would have been nice to know sooner!
I ferried his pack back to the last rest stop, removed all meds and the small bit of food (not wanting to leave a treat for the bears) left the pack and we continued to the pass. All in all it took 4.25 hours to cover ~3 miles and 2600 feet. It was about 1:30 and clouds had gathered over the pass making it windy and cold. It was only a little more than 2 miles back to the car but steeply downhill. I now decided I wanted a medical evaluation of Dad ASAP and signaled 911 on my SPOT. We continued to the trail head and I also attempted to contact emergency services on my personal radio using Chan 9 Code 11. I found another group of hikers who were almost reaching the trailhead and had them relay a message to the rangers at Mineral King.
We safely reached the trailhead and minutes later a ranger arrived with her flashers going. She informed that she was only a first responder but that an EMT was driving up would be here in about 1 hour. Based on his reasonably stable condition we canceled the air evacuation that was being considered. We took his vitals at the ranger station and found him safe enough to continue to the small store to get antacid that allowed him to drink some more water. The 20 year old drove the car down the windy road to give Dad more time to rest.
Did I overreact by summoning 911 help? Should I have forced him to drop his pack sooner? Hard to second guess. But I was very comforted o know that the SPOT had scrambled trained medical personnel to us much faster than if we had not used it. The ranger felt I was correct to call for 911 help.
Anyway, all's well that ends well and it was a backpacking trip the boys will likely not forget!
This was a trip of 4 Boy Scouts and 4 adults. The medical problem involved one of the adults: myself, my wife, a 20 year old "graduated" Eagle scout and another dad of one of the scouts. The other dad had the medical problem. I'll call him "Dad".
I had the group car camp for two nights near our trail head at 7600 feet to help acclimate for the trip. Our first day of hiking took us from 7800 to 9700 but then back down to 7100 feet and only 5.5 miles. Dad was carrying a heavy pack (I had tried to encourage him to take less lunch food) but at least that weight would lessen as we continued. At dinner Dad complained of some heart burn and asked if we had anything. I had about 10 Pepto tablets in my first aid kit and gave him two.
On day 2 Dad ate breakfast but a small portion still saying he had some heartburn. Day 2's hike involved dropping into a meadow at 6000, climbing a bit, a river valley at 6200 feet and then climbing back up to 7600 over the course of 8.9 miles. At the river valley (mile 6.5) Dad was in great spirits and energetic, playing in the river with his son. Unsure of campsite availability I split the group and went ahead with some of the fast boys to climb the last 2.4 miles. I then hiked back down the trail to see how the others were doing. I found them about .5 miles back moving slowly but it was the 20 year old who was especially slow and setting the pace. I asked to take the 20 year old's pack but he refused. Dad meanwhile did seem tired and wanted me to "try" his pack to see how heavy it was. I told him it was heavy, perhaps a pound or two more than mine. Then the 20 year old relented to let me take his pack to camp.
At camp Dad immediately set up his tent and laid down. He said he had some chills and was shivering a bit and that his heart burn was still bothering him. At dinner I gave Dad all the Pepto tablets so that he could self-medicate as needed. He ate very meagerly again but said he was drinking water. He was adamant that he'd be OK and did not want to ruin the boy's chance to earn their 50-mile badge. Breakfast again had Dad eating almost nothing. We hiked 4 more miles to an alpine lake at 8200 feet for our lunch stop. Both Dad and the 20 year old were acting extremely fatigued at the lake. My plan had been to continue over a pass at 10,700 and camp at a lake around 10,000 but it was clear they were not ready for that today. Dad was still hopeful of completing a loop and there were two short cuts available back to our trailhead (I had planned this) as our route turned back south after the pass. At this lake I questioned both the Dad and the 20 year old extensively and we discussed our options. When Dad still could not eat anything I learned that he had been experiencing this (now very severe) acid reflux even when car camping. His ability to drink water was now impared as well. The 20 year old was also very lethargic.
Dad was concerned about ruining the trip and wanted me to continue with some of the boys and insisted he'd be OK to go back while rationing the remaining Pepto tablets. I have to admit I considered this option but thankfully rejected it and we determined we would now all retreat back the same path tomorrow.
On Day 4, I took a lot of weight from both Dad's and the 20 year old's pack and redistributed it. Unfortunately because Dad packed too much lunch food that he had not eaten at all there was a lot of weight to distribute. I let Dad start off back down the trail while I took some photos. Dad flew down the trail before I could catch them. At some switch backs below a gorge I yelled down to wait for my wife who is very strong but needs to move at a slow steady pace downhill and especially with her now excessively heavy pack. Even the 20 year old now had lots of energy (I think his problem was mostly psychological not physical).
Dad wanted to push to make our first camp (12.9 miles) so that he could releive his discomfort sooner. Both he and the 20 year old kept up a fast pace all the way back to the river valley, faster than my wife and son (the youngest of the group) who was struggling a bit with her heavy pack.
At the meadow, with 4 miles and 1100 feet of climbing ahead I was again concerned about finding a campsite because there were very few at the place we stayed on the first night. I and the fast boys went first and I instructed Dad to go slowly and rest often. After securing a camp spot I packed a fanny pack with a jacket, first aid and energy bars and headed back down the trail. Dad was only 20 minutes behind the fast group but had obviously pushed himself too hard.
At camp I had him get into his sleeping bag. Before doing so he tried to take some much needed water but could not keep it down. Afterward he was able to keep down some small sips. I made him some miso soup (thinking he need to replace salt) and he was able to nurse that cup and finally finish after an hour or so. We measured his pulse rate at 80 bpm which seemed high but not alarming. He ate nothing that day at all except a few sips of cold "hot" chocolate. Searching our collective first aid kits I found 2 packets of 2 antacid tablets which I gave to him before bedtime.
In the morning I learned he had used all of the tablets in the night to relieve his pain. I wished I had kept 2 for the hike out. He had about half a cup of miso soup. The final 5.5 miles involved a 2600 foot gain and 1800 foot loss. I forced the group to take a very slow pace and we made good progress for the first half mile or so. But then Dad needed more frequent and longer rests. He was in obvious extreme pain and could drink only tiny sips. I had him suck on salty nuts and sweet candy to try to balance electrolytes and give him some energy. I now forced him to walk exactly as I paced with measured mountaineer's rest steps and made sure he was economizing all motion. Soon we also made the decision to leave his pack. But after continuing about .1 mile he asked if I had taken his meds from his pack. "Meds? What Meds"? Some allergy meds and also something for the heart palpitations he sometimes had! WTF!! That would have been nice to know sooner!
I ferried his pack back to the last rest stop, removed all meds and the small bit of food (not wanting to leave a treat for the bears) left the pack and we continued to the pass. All in all it took 4.25 hours to cover ~3 miles and 2600 feet. It was about 1:30 and clouds had gathered over the pass making it windy and cold. It was only a little more than 2 miles back to the car but steeply downhill. I now decided I wanted a medical evaluation of Dad ASAP and signaled 911 on my SPOT. We continued to the trail head and I also attempted to contact emergency services on my personal radio using Chan 9 Code 11. I found another group of hikers who were almost reaching the trailhead and had them relay a message to the rangers at Mineral King.
We safely reached the trailhead and minutes later a ranger arrived with her flashers going. She informed that she was only a first responder but that an EMT was driving up would be here in about 1 hour. Based on his reasonably stable condition we canceled the air evacuation that was being considered. We took his vitals at the ranger station and found him safe enough to continue to the small store to get antacid that allowed him to drink some more water. The 20 year old drove the car down the windy road to give Dad more time to rest.
Did I overreact by summoning 911 help? Should I have forced him to drop his pack sooner? Hard to second guess. But I was very comforted o know that the SPOT had scrambled trained medical personnel to us much faster than if we had not used it. The ranger felt I was correct to call for 911 help.
Anyway, all's well that ends well and it was a backpacking trip the boys will likely not forget!