Saturday, July 9, 2011

MEDICAL EMERGENCY -? (The Rest of the Story)

THERE'S MORE TO THE STORY!
MISSOURI STATE WATER PATROL TROOPERS - MORE THAN JUST "BUI'S" AND "TICKETS" -
Crewman Rick Anthony checking the tow length on our "prize" we just found abandoned :-)


Last weekend the media briefly mentioned some "Boat Wake Injuries".  It sounds quite routine, not to exciting.   The Official News Release about one particular incident from the Missouri State Highway Patrol (HERE) was, (as expected) pretty "Ho-Hum" and "Just the Facts _ _".  Of course there were few witnesses to what really took place.  As usual,  the "letter's" and "comments" on the various media "blogs" and "papers" continue to harp on "TO MUCH ENFORCEMENT!" "TO MANY BUI'S", "WHY DON'T THEY LEAVE US ALONE - -" and on and on.  The above incident was a little more than routine - -.  As described in the release, a 43 year old woman had injured her back from being thrown in the air on a deck boat and landing back down on the boat hard enough to injure her back.  She had to have medical attention.  The boating traffic was extremely heavy in the area causing large waves, confused chop and a small local thunderstorm was developing with winds in excess of 25 mph.  Two State Patrol boats located the vessel carrying the woman who was in extreme pain and the officers were attempting to get the boat and woman to medical attention ashore as soon as possible.  One of the officer's had to abandon his boat and be put aboard the deck boat to provide help to the woman.  They were going to attempt to cross the lake to the Lake Ozark side where medical attention could get to the woman quicker.  Due to rough water, they were unable to cross.  We were about a mile away and proceeded to assist.  On scene, we found the patrol boat, about 400 foot from shore in a 25 mph wind and drifting rapidly toward a rocky shore.  We hooked up and took the Patrol Boat in tow, meanwhile the Troopers and the distressed vessel made it to a dock on the SUNRISE BEACH side and were attending to the injured woman while waiting for FIRE & EMS to arrive.  The location would require the woman be carried up the bluff over 100 ft on a backboard.  TOWBOAT Crewman and Fire Fighter, Rick Anthony was dropped off to assist in getting the woman up the hill and to the ambulance.  This whole scenario took nearly an hour, after which the Troopers came back to drop off our crewman and retrieve their boat (Damn!)  - - This was not the first time we have gathered up drifting Patrol Boats due to emergency situations.  The Troopers are almost always "first on the scene" and don't think twice about jumping in the water to assist someone in trouble or jumping aboard a boat to perform CPR and first aid.  It isn't exactly a "Stellar" career move to abandon a rather expensive piece of equipment  which may wind up being a beach ornament or a very costly "crappie bed" - - but when a life, safety or injuries to others are at stake they don't put themselves FIRST - -.  The next time your sitting down to write a comment about the "Enforcement" just remember;  One day, you may find yourself lying injured in the bottom of your boat or gasping for air, having been dumped in the water and looking in to the face of a TROOPER who is going to make EVERY EFFORT TO GET YOU TO SAFETY -- WELL DONE GUYS!!  HATS OFF - -!

9 comments:

charler22 said...

Good job to all involved! Thak You!!!

sandra said...

Thanks for all the boat patrol officers who TRY to keep our lake safe from the "DRUNKS" and careless boaters from hurting themselves and or others.. Thanks for your help when you must put yourselves in harms way and for helping those who are injured or sick and or are stranded in their boats My Hat Off To all of you....

LuvTheLake said...

Great job! Unfortunately some people do not appreciate law enforcement until they themselves are in need of their services.

LuvTheLake said...

Great Job! Unfortunatelly there are too many people all around us who only appreciate law enforcement when they themselves are in need of their services.

Roxann said...

Thanks to all the water patrol folks--we certainly appreciate all you do! It is often a thankless job--but many of us realize that your department does a grat job. I for one, wuld like to see a few more patrol boats during peak season!
Roxann

lake_res said...

I am one of the more vocal people against the amped up BUI enforcement, and the constant barrage of media hype when alcohol is potentially involved in an accident and they blow it out of proportion. And this is exactly why. Acts like this are (in my humble opinion) why the WP should be on the lake. And I am the first to tip my hat to these guys when they do these types of activities. I have as much respect for them as I do for our military and have no doubt we need them on this lake.
Please don't confuse heroic acts of this nature with poor judgement and directives by State Bureaucrats. The guys on the water are the finest I am sure!

ChargeIt said...

Great Job Towboat US on picking up the slack from WP! Every other boat can carry and deploy an anchor why cant WP? I understand split second circumstances where a life my be in imminent danger but this instance and many others are not such a case. Dont get me started on why WP cant secure two boats together during a stop or deploy adequate fenders.... Thanks Towboat US for saving tax payers damage repairs due to WP (insert excuse here)

ChargeIt said...

Great Job Towboat US on picking up the slack from WP! Every other boat can carry and deploy an anchor why cant WP? Split second circumstances where a life my be in imminent danger is understandable but this instance and many others are not such a case. Dont get me started on why WP cant secure two boats together during a stop or deploy adequate fenders.... Thanks Towboat US for saving tax payers damage repairs due to WP (insert excuse here)

Charles Meyer said...

Excuses - -None
Observations -Some:
1. From over 40 years of experience in this work, and the last 11 here at LOTO - "every other boat DOES NOT carry and often CAN NOT deploy an anchor".
2. "Imminent danger" covers a wide spectrum and "being there" and making a decision can be totally different then determining the degree of Imminent Danger without being there - - It's pretty hard.
3. Over the past 11 years I have retrieved or stood-by about 5 Patrol Boats total, under similar circumstances, (roughly one every two years). To my knowledge there has not been a single Patrol Boat damaged as a result of having been set adrift over that period of time. With or Without our assistance.
4. Water depth in the area was in excess of 60 ft running to shore where the depth was in excess of 20ft only yards offshore. Normal conditions would like an Anchor scope ration of 5 to 1 (300ft) of line, Heavy weather (or waves & wind) ideal to have a 7 to 1 ration (420ft) and considers you have the right amount of chain (or warp) on your anchor line. (min of 10-15 ft). Deploying either of the above "might" give the boat a fair chance of anchoring at the location - - but FEW boats on this lake carry enough "scope" or chain to allow them to deploy and "Hold" anchoring most anywhere they please - - most will scope to almost a 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 ration which guarantees dragging or not holding and in this case the anchor may have fetched up and held about the time the boat came to rest on shore - - - - Again NOT and excuse, just an observation and I thank you for your comments and understand the concerns that you raise. - C. Meyer