Text 15945, 52 rader
Skriven 2022-04-18 17:58:17 av Sean Dennis (1:18/200)
Ärende: Ham radio to the rescue
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From the April 14 issue of "The ARRL Letter":

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Amateur Radio Helps Rescue Injured California Outdoorsman

A relaxing weekend of camping and fishing did not go as planned last Friday 
when a member of a California outdoors club fell and broke his hip.

The Old Goats Mountain Club (OGMC) had worked their way along an old Forest 
Service Road into a rugged, off grid location in the foothills of the Cascade 
Mountains. Dave Johnson, KL7DJ, said his friend slipped and fell while trying 
reel in a catch. The injury was so severe that the man could not be moved 
safely with a trip that could take at least 2 hours over the rough terrain.

Johnson is the only licensed amateur radio operator in the group and using the 
California Amateur Linking Radio Association (CARLA) system, he was able to 
call for emergency help from this vehicle. Greg Stamback, KD6VEN, located in 
the San Francisco Bay area responded and contacted the Shasta County EMS which 
dispatched a REACH 5 rescue helicopter from their base in Redding, California.

The entire rescue took about 1 hour and before the helicopter landed a local 
ambulance company arrived and was able to stabilize the injured camper. After 
surgery and 3 days in the hospital he is now at home recovering.

Johnson's wife Linda, KL7ISN, helped coordinate getting their friend's vehicle 
back to Redding. Using pre-planned contact schedules for Friday and Saturday 
and, after several makeshift auto-patches, the car was driven to a nearby 
highway where two other club members were able to take the car safely back 
home.

But the weekend was not over for amateur radio help. While the rest of the 
group was making their way out of the mountains on Sunday they were flagged 
down by a stranded motorist. His car's gas tank had been punctured and his 
cell phone would not work. He was taken to a small community along the way 
where there was a landline, and he was able to call for help from AAA.

Johnson said the motorist was thankful for the help and another member of the 
OGMC suggested the motorist might want to consider getting an amateur radio 
license.

While waiting for a tow truck to arrive, Johnson and a couple of OGMC members 
talked about amateur radio and how it had helped over the last few days. One 
member suggested maybe even he should have a transceiver installed in his 
vehicle. Johnson plans to make sure his friend, and the motorist, get a 
complete demonstration.
===

-- Sean KS4TD

... Laugh and the world laughs with you...fart and you stand alone.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20180707
 * Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (1:18/200)