Good job! Glad to know that it is in fact possble.

it worked under controlled conditions. We'll try it in a lake and later in deep water. She's a trooper, but she drew the line at trying it in Alaskan waters. One note, after she was suited I did have her assume the HELP posistion and I supported her in it.

Isn't this the same person who did a video with Les Stroud on managing yourself in cold water situations?

Just ran across the account of this incident. It seems typical, in that a very serious situation appeared at the outset to be rather trivial:

Buffalo National Scenic River (AR)
Hypothermic Hiker Rescued From Ponca Wilderness

On March 16th, northwest Arkansas received about two inches of rain overnight and had temperatures in the low 30s, leading to a sleet/snowstorm that eventually dropped three to four inches of snow.

While on patrol in the Steel Creek area of the park, protection ranger Mark Miller contacted a visitor for speeding. The man told Miller that he was rushing in order to shuttle out people who’d hiked out from an overnight stay in the Ponca Wilderness, adding that one of the hikers, a young woman, was not feeling well due to being sick earlier in the week.

Miller offered to assist with the shuttle and hiked down the trail to check on the young woman. He contacted several members of the hiking party who affirmed that she wasn’t feeling well, but did not give Miller the impression that she was in need of assistance. Further down the trail, he contacted a man from the party who informed him that she was unconscious.

Miller immediately stepped up his response, contacting the Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center and asking that they send out an alert for the Buffalo Search and Rescue Team. A mile and a half down trail, Miller found the 17-year-old girl, who was semi-conscious, wrapped in a wet sleeping bag with her mother. She was placed in a heat blanket and a sleeping bag and then onto a litter for transport and was treated for hypothermia and very low blood sugar by an on scene paramedic.

Responders conducted a carryout over a mile and a half of very rough muddy trail and across one high water creek. The mother was treated for mild hypothermia and was able to hike out on her own.

Due to nearly whiteout conditions, the Air Evac helicopter was unable to respond, so the girl was taken by ambulance to North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison, Arkansas, which is over an hour from the trailhead. At the hospital her core temperature was discovered to be 84 degrees. Miller’s attention and quick response likely saved the lives of two under prepared hikers.

From the NPS Morning Report

Good job NPS! You guys rock!

That kind of weather, wet with air temp near freezing, is a classic set up for hypothermia. In many ways that can be harder to deal with than air temps below freezing. A victim with core temp of 84 is definately a very serious situation.

Besides the all too obvious lesson for hikers to be prepared with proper clothing and rain/wind protection when hiking, I see two other important points:

1. Rescuers should treat all searches as serious emergencies (until proven not serious). This will inevitably lead to some false alarms and unnecessary (only in hindsight) responses. But to have delayed in this case could easily have meant a recovery rather than a rescue!

2. If possible, rescuers should always try to have a "Plan B" for evacuating the victim. It is often wise to launch the ground ambulance even if you think you can use a helicopter. That way when the weather becomes unflyable or the helo has mechanical issues, or whatever, you already have the backup plan in motion. You can always turn the ambulance around if the helo arrives and picks up the patient.

For anyone who really wants to understand cold water survival and the physiology behind it, get yourself a copy of "Essentials of Sea Survival". Even Doug considers this book "a must read for anyone interested in the subject of water survival". I would go so far as to add that it is essential info for landlubbers as well (like me!) because when you really understand the physiology, it will inform your survival knowledge when on land in tough conditions.

Unfortunately the paper book is very expensive now; I suppose it has gone out of print. However the Kindle version is quite reasonable at about $15.

"Essentials of Sea Survival" is a good book. I bought my copy a few years back and paid a normal book price for it. I'm astonished how expensive used copies are! Hopefully it will be reprinted at a reasonable price, for those who prefer a conventional book rather than Kindle.

"2. If possible, rescuers should always try to have a "Plan B" for evacuating the victim. It is often wise to launch the ground ambulance even if you think you can use a helicopter."

Absolutely! I have fond memories of the occasion when, the helicopter having just gone into a hover ready to hoist our victim out of a deep wilderness situation, the pilot announced that he had just gotten a red light on his panel (something to do with his rotor mechanism), he was going to leave, and would return as soon as everything was airworthy again. Indeed he did, a couple of hours later.

Helos are absolutely wonderful, they save lives and a lot of very hard work routinely, but yes, you always should have a plan B ready.

I was watching Ray Mears' segment on sea survival last night and discovered that "Essentials of Sea Survival" authors Drs. Tipton and Golden appear at the 7:00 mark. In the lab they induce hypothermia in a subject to demonstrate the decline of hand motor skills in the cold.