RESCUE REPORT
By Tom Vines
Photos Courtesy Glacier National Park

On Sept. 13, a mountain road construction accident in Montana’s Glacier National Park provided an opportunity for a coordinated response among park employees, a local fire department and the patient’s coworkers.

The first calls from the scene indicated that a worker on a small excavator had tumbled over the side of a cliff on Going-to-the-Sun Road. At 0940 HRS, a Visitor and Resource Protection Ranger on road patrol overheard the radio transmission about the incident. As the nearest ranger to the scene, she assumed incident command and headed toward the incident site.

Another ranger had been driving away from the area but, after hearing the radio transmission, turned around and headed to the park’s search-and-rescue (SAR) cache to load up rope rescue gear. Unsure about what rescue procedures would be needed, the ranger took necessary gear for a possible high-angle rope rescue: a titanium litter and backboard with C-spine kit; two 400' ropes; the raise/lowering kit, with brake bar racks, Prusik-minding pulley, slings and locking carabiner; and the belay kit containing a 540 device, tandem Prusiks, pre-tied load-releasing hitches, slings and locking carabiners.

The Glacier National Park straddles the Northern Rocky Mountains in Montana and is adjacent to the Canadian border. Going-to-the-Sun Road was completed in 1932, and it’s the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. High country snows close the road from mid-October through early June.

The scene of this incident was at an altitude of 5,800–6,000 feet. The air temperature was cool with a light breeze, and no storms were expected.

The initial information was that the evacuator had gone over the side of a cliff area, and responders were now trying to establish whether the worker was with the evacuator. Subsequent reports suggested that the worker had managed to jump clear of the machine, but that he had serious injuries. It was difficult to get a complete picture of the incident, in part because the rugged terrain required that responders’ transmissions be relayed through the park dispatch center—and not directly to one another.

Considering the potential for serious trauma, the incident commander (IC) requested the Alert helicopter, based in nearby Kalispell. She also requested mutual aid from the Babb/St. Mary Volunteer Fire Department, located on the northwestern section of the Blackfeet Nation. The department responded with a rescue truck and two firefighters.

The first EMT arrived on scene at 1020 HRS and scrambled down to the worker. He found the worker conscious, breathing, alert and oriented. The worker’s chief complaint was lower back pain, but there appeared to be no neurodeficits.

By now, the Ranger 407Alert Helicopter had arrived in the area and was hovering above the scene. The crew was instructed to land at the Logan Pass, about 2½ miles away. Logan Pass has a visitor’s center with parking area, which was used as a landing zone (LZ). From there, the Alert crew was provided ground transport to the scene. When the Alert medic arrived at the worker, he initiated an IV and provided pain medications.

Rescuers now had a better idea of what had gone wrong. The 33-year-old worker had been using the excavator to move rocks for reconstructing a rock wall that borders the road. The 9,000-lb. excavator became unbalanced and, despite the operator’s best efforts, slipped and fell over the edge. At that point, the worker made a quick decision that likely saved his life: He hurriedly unbuckled the excavator’s seatbelt and jumped clear of the machine. Both man and machine free-fell approximately 25 to 35 feet before hitting a slope and tumbling further down. Fortunately, the machine landed first and was therefore in front of the worker as they both tumbled down to a “talus,” a slope of loose rocks at the base of a cliff. The worker ended up about 100 feet below the road; the excavator ended up about 200 feet below the road.

Witnesses said that once the worker stopped tumbling, he stood and took a few steps. Coworkers immediately scrambled down the rocks to him, and kept him still and warm until help could arrive.

Rescuers quickly determined that this would not be a vertical rope rescue, but rather a low-angle litter evac. The rescuers rigged an anchor to the heavy-duty tow hooks of a large pickup truck, and attached Prusik hitches and a Prusik-minding pulley. To avoid rope friction on boulders—and possible rock fall caused by the rope—they positioned a fork lift and attached a directional to it. With assistance from other workers and responders, a haul team was organized to provide a direct pull of the worker and litter up the slope.

A ground ambulance transported the worker to Logan Pass and the waiting helicopter. At 1154 HRS, the Alert Helicopter lifted off, en route to the Kalispell Regional Hospital Medical Center. The worker’s injuries turned out to be non-life-threatening. He had a fractured clavicle, along with some bruising on his back and facial lacerations.

Sources: Dave Page, U.S. Park Ranger, Glacier National Park, provided information for this report. Some additional details were taken from an account of the incident in The Coeur d' Alene Press.

LESSONS LEARNED/LESSONS REINFORCED:
Ranger Dave Page, who was operations chief for this rescue, explains the lessons learned:

“This incident had the potential to be really challenging, with a vertical rope rescue in a remote area, but it turned out to be a standard low-angle litter evac. However, we were equipped and prepared for the more difficult high-angle procedure. Everyone, including the man’s coworkers, wanted to help, so we put them to work as the haul team. We had provided some training with the construction crew and with Babb/St. Mary, and now plan to have more training with those groups.

“The IC had called Waterton Lakes National Park, just across the border in Canada, for the possible use of a short haul helo. But once the IC was on scene, she realized it would be an easier operation than first thought, and a short haul operation would not be necessary.”

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.

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