Actual Rescue Scenarios

[USofCS]

Can anybody give me some real life scenarios that have happened in canyons in which you had to be creative to either overcome a nasty obstacle or get somebody through an obstacle?

I am teaching our advanced high school students some more rescue techniques for canyoneering. We have covered a lot of the basics when it comes to setting up things like haul systems, z-rigs, guided rappels, lowering people, pot hole escapes and the likes. I am wanting to give them real scenarios of "what if" situations and see how well they do coming up with solutions. You don't have to give me your solution, but just looking for "how would you handle this situation?"

Thanks!

[qedcook]

I thought the Larry Canyon injury a year or so back was kind of interesting. Someone tore an ACL or something. It made them very immobile but not in a super serious situation. I'm curious how people would suggest self rescue then?

[ratagonia]

I thought the Larry Canyon injury a year or so back was kind of interesting. Someone tore an ACL or something. It made them very immobile but not in a super serious situation. I'm curious how people would suggest self rescue then?

Joint and bone injuries are generally divided into two cases: "stable" and "unstable". Stable means the injury can be stabilized and the limb still used. Unstable means this cannot be done.

In the Larry Canyon incident, the canyoneers did an excellent job of assessing this and getting to the end of the slot part of the canyon with a marginally-stable injury. At that point, the injury essentially moved into being "unstable" as crawling out with that injury was not going to work.

The point I am moseying into here, Cook, is that self-rescue is not always an option. Moving a patient with an unstable industry is a bad thing. In addition to considerable pain, moving an 'unstable' can result in additional injury that can, in some cases, be life-threatening.

They did a great job of self-rescue - getting to the end of the slot so that a SPOT signal could get out. It would have been great if they had also gotten down to the "ground", which would have made the rescue much easier. Moving further would be counter-indicated by the injury - however - it is often better to make progress, however slow, as long as it can be done so without creating further injury.

==> yes, this is a good example "for the class".

Tom

[Jolly Green]

I had a fun situation pop up last year in Birch Hollow. We had a group of four- one former canyoneering guide, 2 with moderate experience, and one newbie. On the first rappel, my buddy (the newbie) slipped on a small 2 foot patch of ice and said he did something to his knee. Of course the rope was pulled before we figured out this was a little more than just a tweeked knee (ultimately he tore his LCL). Lucky for my friend, our group consisted of a nurse, a PA, and a pharmacist, so we were adequately prepared with meds, wraps, physical assessment skills, etc. After finding a walking stick so he could at least hobble like Tiny Tim, we set off to get through the remaining 8-9 raps, downclimbs, and hike out Orderville. While this situation was already mentioned above, it provides a good education opportunity. The things that saved him were the Ibuprofen and tight wrap to reduce the swelling.

The fun part of all of this day was on rap 5 or 6 (roughly a 40-50' rap). The 2 moderate canyoneers went first with the newbie going third. About half way down he got the middle of his t-shirt caught in his rap device (Piranha). Not being able to put his weight on more than one leg- he was unable to do anything to possibly loosen his shirt. Our first thought was to send down a knife to have him cut his shirt loose. After watching the knife cut against the rope on his first attempt, it was time to come up with a new plan. What would you do if you were already down? Still the one at the top? You can insert whatever scenario you want in here to make it a good learning experience- extra rope, no extra rope, ascenders, no ascenders, etc. My ultimate take home lesson learned was to use a contingency anchor at each drop for newbies and injured folks, especially an injured newbie.

I hope that provides a little discussion for your class.