Girl with injured ankle
|
September 4, 1986 |
   |
By Kevin Walker
As is the norm, the last thing I said to fellow member Glenn Henderson as he prepared to leave from Arrow Printing with his two sons, and their friend Danny for an overnighter into the San Jacinto Mountains was betcha a twelve pack we have a rescue while you are gone. Almost always I lose these types of bets with Glenn, but this would not be the case this time.
Just as I was walking out to my place for lunch, my dad Walt yelled out the office door, "We got one!" It was great, a beautiful clear and warm day, I was fairly caught up with my work, and the best part of all was that the person who sent word down to call for RMRU was a Glenn Henderson who came across a hiker coming down the Devil Slide who indicated that his girl friend had fallen and injured her ankle on the trail below Saddle Junction. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I was waiting for someone to go out and get hurt or something, but it was rather enjoyable to know that Glenn's bragging came back around and bit him.
Mary Bowman was at Humber Park
though and had gathered the pertinent information
(while I don't have at this time.) Since the
weather was great and I was the only one there, I
went ahead and put the wheel on the litter and
with the help of the informant started up the
Devil Slide. It was a beautiful day to be hiking,
even with the litter in tow. Not long after I had
left base Walt arrived. As I hiked we discussed
what additional gear would be needed, and then
Walt started out also. Then behind Walt, Joe
Erickson arrived, loaded a small pack and took
off. After about 40 minutes we met up with Glenn
who had come down a short distance to wait to
help with the litter. As we hiked the final
quarter mile to the subject we argued our bet
which after discussion with other members, Glenn
lost. Soon we were with the young woman in
question. Glenn had made her comfortable already
and had examined her ankle, which indeed was
swollen, and she was in some pain, especially if
the injury site was touched.
The mission went quickly and smoothly. We applied an air splint to her ankle, then when Walt and Joe arrived, placed her in the litter, secured her with tie ins and then started out for Humber. As we started down the trail, we were joined by a Mt. San Jacinto State Park aid who helped with the guiding of the wheeled litter. A little further down we were joined by Jim Fairchild and Mary who had hiked up. Mary was able to sneak out of base as Melody Blaschko took over at the radio controls. Everything went well and soon we were back to Humber. Our subject was loaded into her car and her boy friend drove her to the Hemet Hospital (fortunately X-rays showed no fractures), Glenn was continuing with his hike and we were on our way back to work.