RESCUE REPORT: California Firefighters Rescue Group Stuck in Ravine

By Tom Vines

On April 27, Palo Alto firefighters responded to a local natural hazard that, at least for a while, seemed to be collecting victims. Palo Alto City Hall received a 911 call at 1217 HRS reporting that a 91-year-old male was trapped in a ravine in Foothills Park in Palo Alto, approximately 30 miles south of San Francisco.

Palo Alto Fire dispatched Engine 2 and a medic unit. En route, responding personnel requested that the Rescue 2 crew respond in a 4 x 4 patrol wildland unit, and asked that the city park ranger respond as well.

Units arrived at the trail head at 1224 HRS and began the 10-minute hike to the rescue site. As they learned additional incident details, they requested that the Truck 6 crew respond in a 4 x 4 unit with specialized rope-rescue equipment. A Stanford Hospital helicopter was placed on standby for transport if needed.

When rescuers reached the 50-foot-deep ravine in the dense woodland area, they found not one but three people down in the creek bed. A 75-year-old female had accidentally tumbled down while hiking on a steep, winding path known as the Costanoan Trail. A 91-year-old male who had been hiking with her slid down into the ravine to assist her, but then neither one of them could get out. Another hiker passing by, a female nurse in here 50s, heard their cries for help so she also slid down into the ravine to assist.

The nurse found that neither the 75-year-old nor the 91-year-old appeared to be seriously injured, but she was now trapped in the ravine as well. A fourth individual, who had been hiking with the nurse, used her cell phone to call her husband, who then placed the 911 call.

All three individuals in the ravine were conscious, alert and oriented, and appeared not to have serious injuries, but the loose soil—primarily wet, decayed vegetation—prevented any of them from getting enough traction to extricate themselves.

The first action was to get a firefighter/paramedic into the ravine to make an assessment of all three individuals. Using a rope anchored to a tree, the firefighter rappelled down on a large figure 8, taking with him basic EMS equipment.

Five minutes later, the rescue company arrived with the necessary rope rescue gear. The crew used a brake-bar rack to lower a plastic basket litter packed with equipment, as well as two additional firefighters. The rigging crew then began setting up a 3:1 MA (“Z-rig”) haul system using pulleys and Prusik hitches, along with a separate belay system, all anchored to trees. This initially was a challenging operation, as the trail ran through the gulley at about mid-slope and was only about 12 inches wide, so there was little room to work. The riggers solved that problem by anchoring a change-of-direction pulley and running the rope though it so the haul team could move along the path during the raising operation.

Based on the possible mechanism of injury, the medical crew provided C-spine immobilization for the 75-year old female, packaged her in the litter and then used the Z-rig system to haul her up the slope.

The other two individuals had not fallen into the gulley, but had deliberately slid down into it, so C-spine precautions were not indicated for them. To get them out of the ravine, rescuers placed a Class II harness on each of them and attached them to the haul and belay lines with Prusik hitches. Then, a pair of firefighters, each wearing a Class III harness and also attached to the haul and belay lines, assisted each person up the slope. Paramedics assessed all three individuals. Other than being a little cold and tired, they appeared to have no significant injuries. All three refused transport. All units cleared at 1441 HRS.

Sources: Palo Alto Captain Rich Dean, Engine 3 C-shift and Training Captain Joe Ottolini provided information for this report. Some additional details were taken from accounts of the incident in the San Jose Mercury News and Palo Alto Online.

LESSONS LEARNED/LESSONS REINFORCED:
Captain Dean provides the following thoughts on the operation.

“Departments that primarily respond to urban calls need to ‘think outside the box’ when faced with setting natural anchors in a natural environment. This incident presented a challenge since we were essentially executing a rescue from a mid-slope position on a narrow path. The trees used as anchor points were not in ideal locations. Our department primarily operates in flat commercial and residential areas. We are most comfortable using fire apparatus or features of a building for anchors. Training Captain Ottolini has indicated we will place some future focus on how to make less-than-ideal anchor points work in a rural setting.

“We now recognize a need to outfit our rope-rescue cache with additional lightweight helmets and jackets. The cache on an engine company only contained one lightweight helmet for the rescuer. Having to hike about a mile up a steep path with lots of rope gear made it impractical to bring or wear structural gear often used for events in city.

“Find ways to use all your personnel resources on scene. On arrival we asked if the park rangers had any rope-rescue systems training. When they stated they had not, we dismissed their participation from the event. However, in retrospect, we actually could have used them as part of the haul team.”

Rescue Editor Tom Vines is the co-author of “High Angle Rescue Techniques” and “Confined Space and Structural Rope Rescue.” He operates a rope-rescue consulting group in Red Lodge, Mont.