I WONDER HOW MANY MIGHT PUT A VICTIM ON A BACKBOARD, PLACE THEM IN A STOKES BASKET, THEN SECURE THE BASKET TO THE BOAT FOR A QUICK TRANSPORT BACK ACROSS A RIVER. FOR SOME, THIS IS A REASONABLE COURSE OF ACTION .... UNTIL YOU READ THE FOLLOWING...
BE SAFE!
BLADES
Woman dies when rescue boat sinks
August 23, 2006
By Susan Smallheer <mailto:susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com> Herald Staff
SPRINGFIELD — The rescue of an injured woman from the banks of the Connecticut River turned tragic Tuesday when the rescue boat that retrieved her sank while she was still strapped into an emergency litter.
The woman, a 65-year-old Rockingham resident, was eventually brought to shore and emergency medical personnel performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but eyewitnesses said she had been trapped for more than an hour underwater.
Members of the Cornish, N.H. rescue crew, who had gone to pick her up at a private Springfield dock about a half mile south of Hoyt's Landing, also were dumped into the river, but they were not injured.
Hoyt's Landing, located at the confluence of the Connecticut and Black rivers, was filled with rescue personnel, dive teams and boats from both Vermont and New Hampshire, and a rescue helicopter was on standby. But the mood grew somber when rescuers carrying the woman took her to the Charlestown, N.H., ambulance. The ambulance never moved.
Vermont State Police Capt. Kevin Anderson said the woman was either trapped under the boat, which belonged to the Cornish, N.H. Rescue squad, or tied to the boat. He said five or six emergency personnel were on the boat with her.
Authorities at the scene said the rescue crew included people from Springfield and Cornish.
Anderson said the rescue boat was on its way back to Hoyt's Landing when it tipped over in the river. Because New Hampshire owns the river to the high water mark on the Vermont side, her death is being investigated by New Hampshire police authorities, Anderson said.
Charlestown, N.H., Fire Chief Gary Stoddard, joined by Vermont State Police Lt. Jocelyn Stohl, gave a brief statement about an hour after the woman was brought to shore, referring all other comments to the New Hampshire Marine Patrol and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Representatives from both departments arrived at the scene later.
Edgar Emerson of Bellows Falls, who was with the woman when she was injured, said they were on their way to visit friends when she slipped getting out of his pontoon boat and onto the dock.
"She lost her balance and fell," Emerson said. He said she had cuts and bruises on her head and arms, and may have broken her ankle. "I told her she was going to be OK," Emerson said.
Emerson said he made sure she was sitting on shore before he took his boat to look for help. He said he steered his boat up to Hoyt's Landing to find a cell phone and call friends. But others insisted he call 911.
"She didn't want to go in the ambulance, she didn't want to be rescued," Emerson said Tuesday evening as darkness fell. Emerson, who said he didn't want to give his friend's name until her family had been notified, said she lived in North Shore Trailer Park, which is located on Missing Link Road in Rockingham.
He said he waited at Hoyt's Landing, then took two emergency medical technicians to provide the woman with first aid. He said her injuries prevented her from walking up the 100-plus steps from the river to a friend's home.
Shirley Latterell of Perkinsville, who was fishing for walleye and pike at Hoyt's Landing, called 911 for Emerson. She was the only one at Hoyt's Landing whose cell phone had service.
Latterell said the Cornish rescue boat, which she described as an airboat, had gone down the river to retrieve the injured woman. It tipped over and sank on its way back to the landing, she said.
Latterell said Emerson told her that his friend had been cut badly in her fall, and that she had slipped and fallen trying to get onto a dock. She said Emerson told her there was a possibility she had broken her ankle.
"He said she didn't want to go by ambulance and he called friends to tell them she was hurt, but not seriously," Latterell said.
Latterell said she convinced Emerson to call 911 because his friend was cut and bleeding, and she might go into shock.
"I dialed 911 and everything went haywire after that," Latterell said.
Some of the people at the boat landing who watched the incident speculated that the Cornish crew was in such a hurry to get on the water that it forgot to place the drainage plug in the boat before taking off. But one ambulance crew member from another town said that wasn't the case. Without a drainage plug in place, the boat would have sunk well before it had even reached the woman, the crew member said.
"It's just a horrible, horrible accident," the crew member said.
Stoddard said his department received the call for help at 4:30 p.m. It was 7 p.m. before the woman's body was brought to shore.
After the woman was pronounced dead, the rescue crews and divers turned their attention to the sunken boat. Shortly after 9 p.m., crews were towing the Cornish boat back to the Springfield landing. The Cornish rescue crew left with an empty boat trailer.
BE SAFE!
BLADES
.............................................................
Woman dies when rescue boat sinks
August 23, 2006
By Susan Smallheer <mailto:susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com> Herald Staff
SPRINGFIELD — The rescue of an injured woman from the banks of the Connecticut River turned tragic Tuesday when the rescue boat that retrieved her sank while she was still strapped into an emergency litter.
The woman, a 65-year-old Rockingham resident, was eventually brought to shore and emergency medical personnel performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but eyewitnesses said she had been trapped for more than an hour underwater.
Members of the Cornish, N.H. rescue crew, who had gone to pick her up at a private Springfield dock about a half mile south of Hoyt's Landing, also were dumped into the river, but they were not injured.
Hoyt's Landing, located at the confluence of the Connecticut and Black rivers, was filled with rescue personnel, dive teams and boats from both Vermont and New Hampshire, and a rescue helicopter was on standby. But the mood grew somber when rescuers carrying the woman took her to the Charlestown, N.H., ambulance. The ambulance never moved.
Vermont State Police Capt. Kevin Anderson said the woman was either trapped under the boat, which belonged to the Cornish, N.H. Rescue squad, or tied to the boat. He said five or six emergency personnel were on the boat with her.
Authorities at the scene said the rescue crew included people from Springfield and Cornish.
Anderson said the rescue boat was on its way back to Hoyt's Landing when it tipped over in the river. Because New Hampshire owns the river to the high water mark on the Vermont side, her death is being investigated by New Hampshire police authorities, Anderson said.
Charlestown, N.H., Fire Chief Gary Stoddard, joined by Vermont State Police Lt. Jocelyn Stohl, gave a brief statement about an hour after the woman was brought to shore, referring all other comments to the New Hampshire Marine Patrol and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Representatives from both departments arrived at the scene later.
Edgar Emerson of Bellows Falls, who was with the woman when she was injured, said they were on their way to visit friends when she slipped getting out of his pontoon boat and onto the dock.
"She lost her balance and fell," Emerson said. He said she had cuts and bruises on her head and arms, and may have broken her ankle. "I told her she was going to be OK," Emerson said.
Emerson said he made sure she was sitting on shore before he took his boat to look for help. He said he steered his boat up to Hoyt's Landing to find a cell phone and call friends. But others insisted he call 911.
"She didn't want to go in the ambulance, she didn't want to be rescued," Emerson said Tuesday evening as darkness fell. Emerson, who said he didn't want to give his friend's name until her family had been notified, said she lived in North Shore Trailer Park, which is located on Missing Link Road in Rockingham.
He said he waited at Hoyt's Landing, then took two emergency medical technicians to provide the woman with first aid. He said her injuries prevented her from walking up the 100-plus steps from the river to a friend's home.
Shirley Latterell of Perkinsville, who was fishing for walleye and pike at Hoyt's Landing, called 911 for Emerson. She was the only one at Hoyt's Landing whose cell phone had service.
Latterell said the Cornish rescue boat, which she described as an airboat, had gone down the river to retrieve the injured woman. It tipped over and sank on its way back to the landing, she said.
Latterell said Emerson told her that his friend had been cut badly in her fall, and that she had slipped and fallen trying to get onto a dock. She said Emerson told her there was a possibility she had broken her ankle.
"He said she didn't want to go by ambulance and he called friends to tell them she was hurt, but not seriously," Latterell said.
Latterell said she convinced Emerson to call 911 because his friend was cut and bleeding, and she might go into shock.
"I dialed 911 and everything went haywire after that," Latterell said.
Some of the people at the boat landing who watched the incident speculated that the Cornish crew was in such a hurry to get on the water that it forgot to place the drainage plug in the boat before taking off. But one ambulance crew member from another town said that wasn't the case. Without a drainage plug in place, the boat would have sunk well before it had even reached the woman, the crew member said.
"It's just a horrible, horrible accident," the crew member said.
Stoddard said his department received the call for help at 4:30 p.m. It was 7 p.m. before the woman's body was brought to shore.
After the woman was pronounced dead, the rescue crews and divers turned their attention to the sunken boat. Shortly after 9 p.m., crews were towing the Cornish boat back to the Springfield landing. The Cornish rescue crew left with an empty boat trailer.