Ham Radio to the Rescue Again

[John - KI6FKP]

Yesterday 1-16-09 at about 3 PM Ham Radio showed great value again. I was in a QSO with someone and an emergency break came in. It was a Ham in the Desert in a jeep who came accross a badly injured biker. The call went out on PAPA 7 and as I was mobile and asked the calling station to give me 40 seconds to get to a phone, Chris - KJ6BBS took it and ran with it. That began about an hour with the Ham with the injured party passing information to Chris over PAPA who was on the phone with Riverside and Imperial County Responders passing road names and GPS numbers and also, Chris was on the internet researching locations and GPS and road information as this was way out off highway and there was some trouble figuring out exact locations, air and ground units responding. The end result was a helicopter finally got there, called for another copter to bring additional equipment and, the injured man being transported to hospital. This probably saved a life, I don't know the outcome. Kudos to Chris-KJ6BBS for being there and handling the event very very well.
73s
John
KI6FKP

[John - KI6FKP]

Update. The injured man had broken shoulderblade, ribs and, collarbone and! collapsed lung. He indacted to the hams in the desert that he wanted to give them something, they said that they're going to suggest he give PAPA a donation or something.
John
KI6FKP

[John - KI6FKP]

Here is the more complete story by Chris who is the one who handled it.
John KI6FKP

The PAPA System and the Riverside County Desert Rescue

A report by Christopher Walsh, KJ6BBS

1/16/2010

At about 3:00 pm PST on January 16, 2010, while listening to radio traffic on the frequency 446.760 MHz, a channel used by the Los Angeles area based PAPA system, an amateur radio network, I received an emergency radio call break from KI6PCK, Jose Hernandez, from Thousand Oaks, CA. During the radio break, KI6FKP, John Stevens, out of Topanga Canyon, CA, attempted to take the emergency call, but did not have the ability to access a phone to contact emergency services. After hearing the emergency call, and the nature of the emergency, I decided that time was of the essence, and so I broke in to radio traffic, asking KI6PCK of what assistance I could offer. I asked KI6PCK what the nature of the emergency was, and to provide me with as specific description as possible of his geographical location. With his response he provided a description (on the Bradshaw trail about 15 miles Northeast of Niland, CA) as well as the GPS coordinates (33.2928, -115.1938) of the injured party. The nature of the emergency was a injured male, suffering from broken ribs, deriving from a ATV-type accident.

From that point I made the effort to immediately contact 911. Since I live in Irvine, CA, I was initially directed to the Orange County dispatcher, but the emergency call’s origin was based in Riverside County, just over the border of Imperial County. The first public safety contact I made was with California Highway Patrol (CHP), Riverside’s office, to whom I provided the description of injured party’s location and GPS coordinates.

A few minutes later I received a call from Riverside County Sheriff, asking me for location information, and during that call I received a call from Riverside County Fire. Riverside County Fire had asked more direct question about the injured party, like how old he was, whether or not there were any visible injuries, and what the general description of the landscape was of the injured party’s location. These and many more questions from the various rescue agencies were then immediately relayed to KI6PCK, who provided detailed answers.

Over the course of a half an hour, question came from both the reporting party as well as the rescuing agencies, which included, Riverside County Fire, Riverside County Sheriff, CHP, and Imperial County Sheriff, who all took part in the rescue effort. During that time Riverside Fire had coordinated with me gathering navigational information on how the reporting party had entered Bradshaw Trail into the desert, so as to report to the land-based rescue units how to arrive to the scene. At this point I received a direct call from Riverside County fireman, who I then passed on information from KI6PCK, regarding the physical description of their entrance to the trail (8 miles North of a KOA campground near Niland, CA, off of a road called Hot Mineral Springs Road).

During this entire process, I advised KI6PCK to stay put, to stand by for more information regarding the rescue, and to relay any updates they had. KI6PCK had requested an ETA from any of the rescuing agencies at one point, and I asked the first agency to call me back, which was Riverside Fire. They reported that CHP had a spotter plane about two minutes out from their location, and that a rescue helicopter was about 20 minutes inbound. KI6PCK then informed me that the injured party was experiencing very difficult breathing, and that it was worsening. Imperial County Sheriff also reported that they had an inbound rescue helicopter with an ETA of 19 minutes.

About 20 to 30 minutes after that KI6PCK reported to me that a red helicopter was directly approaching them, and that it was landing, and had the word REACH written on the side. He also reported that the injured party was showing signs of relief, and there was a long pause between this and the closing communication, where he reported that the injured party was airlifted to a nearby hospital, and that the rescue effort was a success.

Thanks, to the PAPA system, KI6PCK, and all of the rescue agencies involved, a man was successfully rescued. Without Ham radio and the PAPA system infrastructure, who knows what kind of suffering this individual would have to had experienced before he could arrive to the nearest hospital. I am so glad I was able to contribute to this effort, and would never hesitate to help another person or people in need of rescue. Amateur radio saved the day!

[Chris - KJ6BBS]

Hi folks! Steve, KJ6DYK, has been kind enough to provide us with a recording of the rescue effort yesterday. All files are MP3 format.

1) Sulton Sea 911 full time stamp unedited (63.75 MB): http://www.sendspace.com/file/6x010r

2) Sulton Sea 911 (37.7 MB): http://www.sendspace.com/file/edke1h

[Mary - KE6NGC]

Congratulations to two new hams who went the extra mile for an unknown person. That is what Amateur Radio is all about.

[Chris - KJ6BBS]

Originally Posted by Chris - KJ6BBS

Hi folks! Steve, KJ6DYK, has been kind enough to provide us with a recording of the rescue effort yesterday. All files are MP3 format.

1) Sulton Sea 911 full time stamp unedited (63.75 MB): http://www.sendspace.com/file/6x010r

2) Sulton Sea 911 (37.7 MB): http://www.sendspace.com/file/edke1h

If these files aren't easily available, try these, from my own web site:

1) Sulton Sea 911 full timestamp unedited (63.75 MB): www.kj6bbs.com/uploads/1-16-10et.mp3

2) Sulton Sea 911 edited (37.7 MB): http://www.kj6bbs.com/uploads/1-16-10ett.mp3

[Chris - KJ6BBS]

I thought this to be relevant to the ARRL's side of the argument, and to what just arose this weekend with the injured party out in the desert. It's kind of ridiculous that the FCC would go out of its way to note that amateur radio is NOT an emergency radio service. Whatever!

http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2010/01/01/11218/

[Chris - KJ6BBS]

From: Shane Blaser
Sent: Tue, January 19, 2010 8:02:38 PM
Subject: Here are some pics from the rescue of the this weekend
Not only did we use the papa system to save this guy, but both ki6pck and I (ki6uib) got our tickets (tech and general) from the tests hosted by the papa system folks ...

Photos from the rescue (courtesy of KI6PCK):

[Shane - KI6UIB]

here are a few more pics

http://picasaweb.google.com/shanebla...eat=directlink

[Lou - KI6PCK]

Originally Posted by Chris - KJ6BBS

From: Shane Blaser
Sent: Tue, January 19, 2010 8:02:38 PM
Subject: Here are some pics from the rescue of the this weekend
Not only did we use the papa system to save this guy, but both ki6pck and I (ki6uib) got our tickets (tech and general) from the tests hosted by the papa system folks ...

ki6uib forgot to mention that KI6PCJ who was also there is another PAPA system graduate.

Thanks again to everyone who made this possible. The family of the injured party as well as myself, was extremely thankful to the PAPA system and all those who participate in it. Things would most certainly have been much worst if it weren't for ham radio.

73, KI6PCK

[Norm - K6YXH]

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/20/11296/?nc=1

As reported by the ARRL:
Ham Helps Out in Riverside County Desert Rescue



Between 1862 and 1877, the 65 mile Bradshaw Trail was used to haul miners and other passengers to the gold fields at La Paz. Now it is a popular destination for hikers, off-road and four-wheel driving. [Map courtesy of the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management]

A helicopter similar to this one airlifted the injured party to a nearby hospital. [Photo courtesy of REACH]

On the afternoon of Saturday, January 16, Christopher Walsh, KJ6BBS, of Irvine, California, was listening to radio traffic on 446.760 MHz, a channel used by the Los Angeles area-based Pocket Auto-Patch Association (PAPA) system -- an Amateur Radio network of 22 interlinked analog and digital D-STAR repeaters that provides extensive coverage of the Southern California region and beyond -- when he heard an emergency radio call break from Jose Hernandez, KI6PCK, of Thousand Oaks, California, reporting an injured male who had broken some ribs from an ATV-type accident.

According to Walsh, John Stevens, KI6FKP, of Topanga Canyon attempted to take the emergency call during the break, but he did not have the ability to access a phone to contact emergency services. "After hearing the emergency call and the nature of the emergency," Walsh said, "I decided that time was of the essence and so I broke in to radio traffic, asking Hernandez what assistance I could offer. I asked him what the nature of the emergency was and to provide me with as specific description as possible of his geographical location. He responded with a description -- on the Bradshaw Trail about 15 miles northeast of Niland, California -- as well as the GPS coordinates of the injured party."
Walsh immediately contacted 911, "but since I live in Irvine, I was initially directed to the Orange County dispatcher," he explained. "The emergency call's origin was based in Riverside County, just over the border of Imperial County. I then got a hold of the Riverside office of the California Highway Patrol and gave them the description of injured party's location and GPS coordinates."

A few minutes later, Walsh received a call from Riverside County Sheriff's office, asking for the location information; during that call, he also received a call from Riverside County Fire Department. "Riverside County Fire had asked more direct question about the injured party, such as how old he was, whether or not there were any visible injuries and what the general description of the landscape was of the injured party's location," Walsh said. "These and many more questions from the various rescue agencies were then immediately relayed to Jose who provided detailed answers."

Over the course of a half an hour, Walsh relayed questions from both Hernandez to the rescuing agencies -- Riverside County Fire, Riverside County Sheriff, CHP and Imperial County Sheriff -- and vice versa. "During that time, Riverside Fire coordinated with me, gathering navigational information on how Jose and the injured party had entered Bradshaw Trail into the desert, so as to report to the land-based rescue units how to arrive to the scene. At this point I received a direct telephone call from a Riverside County firefighter. I passed him information from Jose about the physical description of their entrance to the trail -- 8 miles north of a campground near Niland, off of Hot Mineral Springs Road."

During this entire process, Walsh advised Hernandez not to move from his location, to stand by for more information regarding the rescue and to relay any updates they had. "Jose wanted to know when the rescuers would arrive, so I asked the first agency to call me back, which was Riverside Fire. They reported that CHP had a spotter plane about two minutes out from their location and that a rescue helicopter was about 20 minutes inbound. Jose then told me that the injured party was experiencing very difficult breathing and that it was worsening. Imperial County Sheriff also reported that they had an inbound rescue helicopter with an ETA of 19 minutes."

Less than a half-hour later, Hernandez told Walsh that a red helicopter was directly approaching them and that the injured party was showing signs of relief. "There was a long pause between this and the closing communication when he reported that the injured party was airlifted to a nearby hospital and that the rescue effort was a success," Walsh said. "Thanks to the PAPA system, Jose Hernandez, KI6PCK, and all of the rescue agencies involved, a man was successfully rescued. Without ham radio and the PAPA system infrastructure, who knows what kind of suffering this individual would have to have experienced before he could arrive to the nearest hospital. I am so glad I was able to contribute to this effort, and would never hesitate to help another person or people in need of rescue. Amateur Radio saved the day!"

[Justin - KG6OBC]

Great job to all involved in this rescue!!!