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:
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.......................
...................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.
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.
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