Me and the lady L went hiking along the Noble Knob trail on Saturday. It is a pretty easy trail and offers unbelievable views of Mt Rainier and the surrounding area. About 2 hours from the trail head The lady L became very ill. The onset was sudden, and she had problems with dizziness, nausea, blurred vision and profuse sweating. We waited an hour to see if she’d feel better but she didn’t. At that time I was contemplating heading back to return with help, but, fortunately I didn’t have to as we found the area was covered by the cell network. I called 911 and was routed to the local sheriff’s office. As our good luck continued, there happened to be a 50 kilometer run by Buck Creek on the same day, and a large (10 person) Search and Rescue crew was nearby. About 2 hours after my call they arrived at the scene, with a ground transport litter being carried by 4 of them. We were able to get the lady L into the litter, and transported her a little over a mile to the closest peak. There was some discussion of getting a helicopter to assist with her evacuation, and I was told that 2 possibilities were a Coast Guard helicopter out of Port Angeles, or a National Guard helicopter from Salem Oregon. I was also told that neither was a certainty. Shortly after we arrived at the peak, to my unmeasured relief, a National Guard helicopter landed under the approaching twilight, the lady L was placed in the helicopter and transported to McCord AFB, where she was ground transported to St Clare hospital in Lakewood and admitted to the ER. With the lady L in transit, I walked out about another 40 minutes with the rest of the S&R folks, and it was dark by the time we got back to the parking area.

I talked with the Sheriff, and a local EMT for a while at the trail head, and they checked on the lady L and told me she’d been admitted to the ER. There were a lot of cars at the trail head, and after talking with these generous and helpful folks I thanked them again for their help, and then the Sheriff, EMT and his wife drove off in a SUV while I was walking the last 100 yards to my car. About 5 minutes down the road I came across a car which had slid off the road and into a ditch. I stopped and asked if they would like assistance, but they said they’d were okay and had already called a tow truck. About 20 minutes down, in the heart of the steep, narrow, rutted, dirt and gravel covered forest service road, what did I come across but the Sheriff, EMT and his wife, whose car had not seconds before, gone off the road sideways! The slope was really steep and SUV’s roof was about 2’ below the level of the roadway. The driver’s side tires were about 3’ off the ground, and the vehicle was balanced precariously, supported only by the tree the SUV was leaning against. As I got out of my car the EMT’s wife let herself out of the passenger side, and I headed down the steep slope to help her up to the road. She wanted her husband out of the car immediately, and so after helping her to the road I headed back to the SUV and opened or rather lifted open the driver’s door, and with the SUV bobbing up and down like a float with a fish on, helped the EMT (the driver) pull himself out of the car. It was kind of unnerving to be helping the guy out of the vehicle while it was so unstable. I wondered if the tree supporting the SUV was going give or if the SUV was about to roll or slide down the slope any second. I'm sure I wasn’t the only one thinking about that. After the EMT got free of the SUV I helped him to the road and to his wife’s embrace. Meanwhile others arrived at the area and helped the sheriff get out of the rear seat of the SUV. I checked that folks were okay and then headed back to my car. I made good time the rest of the way down, but definitely not pushing the envelope towards recklessness. Near the bottom of the forest service road, I was again relieved to see the tow truck heading up the hill.

I got back to the cabin about 10 pm, and called the hospital. The ER nurse I spoke with said that the lady L had just been admitted and they hadn’t finished the assessment. I proceeded to pack up our stuff and get the car ready for the trip down. I called back at 10:30 and was able to talk with my lady. She was pretty out of it. I talked with another ER nurse, kind of a butt, who would only tell me the lady L was there for the night. At about 12:30 it occurred to that I'd been up since 5 am so I went to bed and got 5 hours of not terribly sound sleep. Got up at 5:30, and finished preparing for the drive. I left a little later and got to the hospital about 8. the lady L was still feeling ill. I spent a few hours with her, and fortunately she was mostly sleeping. So I headed out to do some projects. I got back to the hospital at about 8 on Sunday evening, and brought her home.

When bad things happen it always seems like a number of small elements usually determine if bad becomes worse. I was amazed at the fortunate timing in all of this, as well as touched by the efforts of all who helped. All of the S&R folks said they do it for fun, and I was in awe that a helicopter and crew could be pulled from over 200 miles away to give aid. And then the ability of the crew to land (we were at around 6,400 feet) in approaching darkness, was awesome.

Again, my hat is off to S&R, the local volunteer fire department, Air National Guard, the local Sheriff, the local grocery store owner who volunteers for S&R as an EMT, the staff at the hospital. It is perhaps one of the best reflections of our culture that many of these folks are willing to give their time in times of need. It is also no small contribution that the tools we have adopted are of immeasurable assistance in these same times.

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"