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For the past few weeks, we have been working on a comprehensive rescue plan for Muir Valley and would like to ask those of you who have experience in this area for your assistance in designing and implementing our plan.

Muir Valley's popularity is growing leaps and bounds. On any Saturday or Sunday there can be 180 climbers in the Valley. Due to the inherently dangerous nature of our sport, somewhere, sometime a person could be seriously injured. We want to be prepared to do everything reasonably possible to quickly get professional emergency care to the injured person.

Those of you who have been to Muir recently have seen our recently-finished emergency road that enters the Valley from Rogers and snakes 2.5 miles down along the Valley floor. This road is a good start, but there is much more to do. Communications, logistics, coordination with Wolfe Co. EMS, etc.

Liz and I would greatly appreciate help from any of you who are willing and able to do so.

Rick

at smith rock they have kiosks with wire litters at several points in the park to facilitate rescues and evacuations. They would help to save time in finding a litter and transporting to the valley floor. They also help to serve as a reminder to be careful.

Rick,
I am sure you have already talked to Jeff Kennedy about this, he is/has all the
knowledge to put this in effect for you. I was with Jeff(unknowingly) on a rescue a few months back(I was on top, he was on bottom)of the crag after a rappeller fell.
I can ask him if you like if you have not already. I will be down this weekend, let me know.
Todd

Thanks Todd. I was planning on talking to Jeff about his S&R experience this weekend.

Rick

Consider contacting the American Alpine Club.

They're headquartered out of Colorado, and I have always found them to be friendly and informative. Their knowledge base is vast, from regional to international. I have read several articles in their journals about local chapters creating and furnishing emergency kiosks, and I would guess that they have some standard protocol documents they would share with you. It is a wonderful organization and I know that during the last few years they have recognized and begun an outreach program to rock climbers (sport and trad) in response to growing popularity and availability.

www.americanalpineclub.org

Check their site for a contact and give them a call.

NOTE It is worth joining for the climber's insurance (though I/m not sure how much translates to rock climbing) and the annual Accidents In North American Mountaineering (chronicling everything from avalanche to rock fall to gear failure to inexperience) and the Quarterly and Annual Journals.

Having a litter and evac equipment might be handy, but you also need to have people that are trained to use it. If you are going to be depending on the local firefighters or whoever handles such things in Wolfe County to do the evac then they will likely be more comfortable and effective using their own equipment.
Think through what an evac from each of the crags would involve and pre-plan the best route for getting someone to the trailhead. Invite whoever would be doing the evac out to take a look, or better yet invite them to hold a rescue practice.
Filing maps and directions to trailheads with 911 dispatch would be good.
Determine the best location to land a helicopter (if there is a place to land at all) and have the lat/long of that location ready for the pilot. Or maybe the pad by the parkway is the closest option. Good to know in advance.
It sounds like you are off to a good start!

There's a new SAR book about to come out for the Black Canyon of Gunnison, CO. It's supposed to be one of the best. I'll try to find out more info.

i think blake bowling has some experience with s&r if i remember the conversation correctly. he'd be a good person to talk to if that is the case.

Rick,

You are off to a good start by looking at SAR as a comprehensive course of action. Some ideas that come to mind:

-Invite local FD/EMS/Rescue resources to Muir Valley to pre-plan the area and train (Legion already beat me to the punch). Have a cook-out for the guys and gals, meet them, and show them around (if you feed firefighters, they will come).

-Maintain good signage in the area (clearly mark all roads, trails, and climbing areas so people are orientated to their location at all times). This allows someone who is reporting an accident / illness / or injury to know where to send help and, likewise, allows SAR resources to easily find the location once they respond.

-Post emergency notification procedures at entrances to the Muir Valley. We all know how reliable cell phone coverage is (not). If visitors know where to go and how to report an emergency, it will cut down on the response time of SAR ressources.

-Sponsor self-rescue, climber rescue, and/or wilderness first aid classes. The better trained your visitors are, the better off everyone is. Prevention through education.

-Having a centralized cache of rescue equipment (stokes baskets, backboards, c-collars, splints, etc) has its pros and cons. It would have to be in a location that is easily accessible, secure, and maintained on a regular basis. It requires some degree of training to use. Also, if you purchase the equipment new, there could be a lot of $$ involved. Probably the best use of this idea I have seen is at Seneca Rocks, WV. The Gendarme (the local gear shop in town) keeps a cache of rescue equipment. The equipment (most of which is retired fire service surplus) has been donated over the years by us firefighters who spent a lot of time out there (I won't tell you how many years so I don't date myself). Most climbers (and the NPS) know to call or send someone to the Gendarme when they need help.

I hope this helps you a little. If you have any other questions or thoughts, shoot me a PM and I will attempt to answer it or direct you to someone who can.

We knew you folks would come through with good advice! Thanks to all for this wealth of SAR info. We've also received six offers to help set up and run a Muir SAR by climbers who have had SAR training and experience.

The first action step we will take is to post on this forum and in various places around the Valley, basic information on how best to respond to a personal injury accident and how best to contact the local EMS in an area where there is no cell phone reception. This info will be posted in a separate message on this thread and will hopefully serve as a temporary measure until a Muir SAR is formed.

Next, we will gather up all this posted and PM'd information and do our homework.

Then, we will create a forum on the Muir Valley website where we can have a kickoff meeting with all of you who wish to contribute -- either advice or effort in setting up and running a SAR.

Finally, and probably in the early spring, we will have a get-together in the Valley to formalize and launch a Muir SAR volunteer service.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions!

And, any others, with or without SAR experience, who would like to help in this effort can PM us to sign up.

Rick and Liz Weber