Rough day
The day started out well, I had passed all the practical exams to become a SAR Tech II (that's a search and rescue technician) and we were all walking back to the trucks when the call came for the real thing: 90 foot fall at Sycamore Falls, technical resuce. Luckily we had out packs all ready and loaded, so it was a simple matter to grab the technical rescue gear and hit the road. I had to be at work by 6 that night, so I took my personal rig, tucked in between two sheriff's offce rigs running code three, lights and sirens 25 miles west of town. My little nissan doesn't like to go more than 90 mph. We rolled up to the popular climbing area and I was thinking something along the lines of "Ah jeez, Ihope it's no one I know."
Setting up the anchors, rigging the rappel and haul lines, and so on and so forth until the DPS helicopter comes up and short hauls her out and transports to the hospital. All that is left for us to do is raise her climbing partners, still in the bottom of the canyon. We do, and up until that point, it has been routine. A simple exercise and application of skills and techniques. Abstract, just part of the job. Until the final raise, when we walk past the partner who was interviewed by the deputy and just informed that the young lady was pronounced dead shortly after leaving the scene. He was my age, all of them were, and looked like someone I might have climbed with or drunk beer with, and he was calling someone on his cell phone trying to explain that there was an acident, and she is dead. That was when it got to me, but it was also the time I had to leave in order to make it to work on time. I didn't want to go deal with drunks and morons on only 4 hours of sleep after working this code, but want didn't really have anything to do with it. So I went, and was twitchy and restless all night, but in retrospect I reckon it was pretty good that I went, as it forced me to interact and work and be busy.
That was a few days ago, and things are back to normal now, I am caught up on sleep and going out to salsa dancing right...NOW!
Setting up the anchors, rigging the rappel and haul lines, and so on and so forth until the DPS helicopter comes up and short hauls her out and transports to the hospital. All that is left for us to do is raise her climbing partners, still in the bottom of the canyon. We do, and up until that point, it has been routine. A simple exercise and application of skills and techniques. Abstract, just part of the job. Until the final raise, when we walk past the partner who was interviewed by the deputy and just informed that the young lady was pronounced dead shortly after leaving the scene. He was my age, all of them were, and looked like someone I might have climbed with or drunk beer with, and he was calling someone on his cell phone trying to explain that there was an acident, and she is dead. That was when it got to me, but it was also the time I had to leave in order to make it to work on time. I didn't want to go deal with drunks and morons on only 4 hours of sleep after working this code, but want didn't really have anything to do with it. So I went, and was twitchy and restless all night, but in retrospect I reckon it was pretty good that I went, as it forced me to interact and work and be busy.
That was a few days ago, and things are back to normal now, I am caught up on sleep and going out to salsa dancing right...NOW!
posted by Jared | 6:02 PM
1 Comments:
Whoa. It's pretty stunning how the phrase "rough day" can be so ominous coming from you.
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