| On a frigid Friday evening, just past 1930 hours, Trappe Ambulance, Limerick division, along with Limerick Rescue and fire fighters from New Hanover, were dispatched for a challenging and potentially dangerous rescue.
The original word from County was that three people sledding were trapped some 300 to 400 feet down an icy ravine. They were apparently injured but the extent was not known.
First to arrive on scene was 324-13 manned by EMT Chuck Monteleone and Paramedic Dave Sauls. The Trappe Ambulance crew quickly grabbed flashlights and began searching for victims down the icy, slippery slope. "It was pitch black dark and the ravine dropped off very steeply so it was difficult to see or hear anything," according to Paramedic Sauls. "We just hung onto the small trees, shouted and shined our flashlights down toward the creek hoping we would see someone."
A Limerick PD Officer arrived and joined in the search. And then a glimmer of hope was spotted about 300 feet down. One of the little girls had a blue LCD flashlight. She started flashing it towards the searchers. "That's one thing that saved them," according to EMT Monteleone. "If they didn't have that flashlight, we might have never found them."
Monteleone and the Limerick Officer attempted to traverse the glassy slopes when the Officer slipped and began sliding down the ravine. At the last minute he grabbed a small tree and held on for life. After regaining his footing he made it back up and waited for rescue personnel to arrive. Monteleone had better success making it down. "I just took my time and focused on every step to make it down. I had to punch my heel into the frozen snow to keep from slipping." Just as he reached the first victim, rescue personnel from Limerick Fire Company arrived on scene.
Trappe Paramedic Scott Mickalonis, a Lieutenant with Limerick Fire, assumed the role of Incident Commander, assisted on EMS command by Trappe Assistant Chief Mike Roberts. At the same time, Trappe EMS Chief Dan White arrived. Chief White has wilderness EMT training and was ready to put it to the test. After grabbing as many blankets as he could carry, Chief White headed down to assess and care for the most seriously injured victim.
At approximately 300 feet down, the father and one of the girls was found. They were both conscious and alert and as warm as could be expected. The father had a severe, angulated right femur fracture and was in a lot of pain. The other daughter was another one hundred feet down and also uninjured. According to the father, he was walking with his daughters as they had done every evening. At some point they decided to walk near the slope. One of them slipped, the others all grabbed on and all three slid into the darkness. "It appears that the dad took the brunt of the fall," according to Chief White.
"He told me he held onto his daughters as they gained speed, shielding them from the blows he was taking from trees and rocks." The three were dressed properly for the frigid temperatures and this helped keep them from becoming hypothermic.
There were other important factors that kept the victims from being more seriously injured. First, the father had his cell phone which he used to call his wife and she called 911 for help. Second, after realizing what was happening, good Samaritan neighbors from the other side of the creek came to the rescue with warm sleeping bags and comforted the two little girls. They had access from the other side that was much safer and easier.
Limerick Rescue set up and executed their low/mid angle rope rescue to perfection and after nearly two hours from first dispatch all three victims were safe and sound.
Trappe Ambulance Medical Command Doctor David Neubert had been on scene since the start. This event was one of the first where we were able to take advantage of having our Pre-hospital Physician on scene. He was able to provide care that regular ALS providers could not. The Medevac flight crew requested that we not use a Hare traction splint on the father's femur fracture. This was due to concerns about room inside the helicopter. Dr. Neubert was also concerned about the angulation of the fracture and felt that it needed to be stabilized before transport.
So, with the assistance of a dose of Etomidate, a very strong sedative, Dr. Neubert manually reduced the severe break. During transport to the landing zone, the leg was continuously stabilized with the help of Paramedics Sauls and White. "I don't have medical experiences like this one in the Emergency Department at Einstein," stated Doctor Neubert afterwards. "It was a great team effort and I can't imagine the whole call going any smoother."
The two girls were ground transported to PMMC with minor injuries and later released.
Follow the link below to view aerial video of the rescue.
36525@kyw.dayport.com" target="_blank">http://cbs3.com/video/?id=36525@kyw.dayport.com |
