Originally Posted By: hikermor
It is not clear whether immediate first aid might have altered this unfortunate outcome.....
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Rangers/Paramedics immediately responded and found that the man had sustained a serious head wound and that he was bleeding profusely. A life flight was ordered up and was en route while rangers provided ALS interventions, placed the man into a wheeled litter, then moved him to the life flight landing zone. Just as the helicopter landed, his condition deteriorated, and attempts to revive him failed. He was declared dead at the scene.
This is just speculation on my part, but I suspect first aid might not have made much difference. While head wounds can bleed profusely, that (external) bleeding is usually not enough to be life threatening, in and of itself. Bleeding inside the skull ("closed head trauma"), however, can kill one fast. The pressure from bleeding inside the skull squishes the brain. Not much can be done about that in the field. A Helo evac to a neurosurgeon was the right call, but time was not on the victims side. Again, this is just speculation on my part.
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