Thanks for posting this Stephanie. A little history here. After two incidents in Wolfe County wherein the 911 Dispatcher was told to go to Roadside and Emerald City, he didn't have a clue what the caller was talking about, and significant time was lost in directing SAR and EM to the scene. Then we had a delayed response because the dispatcher did not know where Muir Valley was nor could he seem to copy down simple instructions. So, I made up a list of climbing areas in Wolfe County and driving instructions to each. I've given this to Wolfe Co. Dispatch three times, and still they don't seem to use it. On two occasions the Dispatcher toned out our SAR Team to "some place called "Roadside." But he couldn't get any more specific info. That was because the callers were from out of town and didn't know the local landmarks or place names. As the only climber on the team, I was able to get us to the right place.Meadows wrote:I heard one of the challenges for the emergency crew was getting to the crags. We are working on getting a document for the emergency crews with non-climber directions ("we're at the Darkside" doesn't work for SAR) and GPS coords.
I will also be posting the information in the next week or two on the PMRP kiosks for the respective crags in the area.
For areas without kiosks -and there are many- I strongly recommend having directions with you if you're not carrying a guidebook.
Very frustrating.
Stephanie took my notes and did a super job in refining and formatting this info for Wolfe Co. and is in the process of adding all the climbing areas in the Gorge to it. Thanks, big time Stephanie!!
Now, our challenge will be to get the Wolfe, Powell, Menifee, and Lee County Dispatchers to actually use this document.
Rick