search_and_rescue

Security forces rescue lucky Linda on Mt Liamuiga (Feb 24, 2006)

By Stanford Conway (St. Kitts - Nevis Observer)

A US citizen is high in praise of the St. Kitts and Nevis Security Forces after a search party found the injured
woman lying on the bed of one of the many Ghauts atop Mount Liamuiga. Linda Campbell, a teacher at Grosse
Ile in Detroit, Michigan, USA and a resident of that State, fell off a cliff on Wednesday afternoon, while on a hike
with her fianc� atop Mount Liamuiga.

"I would like to thank the people of St. Kitts, especially those members of the Police Force and the military who had worked very hard in the dark of the night to save my life. All that I can say it that this island is just remarkable, the people are wonderful and each one of those men who cared so much for me�when I think about them it makes me cry. "So, thank you! Thank you to the people of St. Kitts and thank you for saving my life, because I think I would have died down there last night if I had stayed there all night. Thank you!" said Campbell.

According to Campbell, she and her fianc� Douglas May, of Royal Oak, Michigan, USA, arrived in St. Kitts last Sunday and decided to revisit some of the sites they saw during their previous visit to the island last year. "We were here in St. Kitts last year around this time and we had a wonderful time and could not wait to come again. Last year, while we were here, we took a guided hike up to the crater on Mount Liamuiga and yesterday we thought we could have done it alone. However, I got tired during the climb but Doug wanted to go on to the crater; so I turned around and started back down the trail very slowly. "I somehow got off the trail, slipped and fell off a cliff and down into an old riverbed with lots of huge boulders. It was just a miracle that I did not break my back or my neck or knocked myself out, but I did injure my knee," Campbell said.

Campbell explained that because of the injury she could not have climbed the almost sheer-faced cliff to get back on the trail, and decided to walk along the Ghaut with the hope of finding someone or an avenue leading back to her original route. She however fell a second time, hitting her head and back against a boulder and irritating her already injured knee, but, "again it was a miracle because there were no injuries to my neck or back." "About this time, it started to get dark and I made up my mind to remain up there until daylight because Doug did not know where I was. I myself did not know where I was�I believed it was in the middle of the rain forest. So I found some rocks upon which I rested my injured knee and lay there praying for help," added Campbell.

Campbell explained that she had fallen off the cliff at about 3:30 p.m. and was on the Ghaut going thorough her ordeal for approximately four hours. "I have been down on the river bed for about four hours and I made up my mind that I was going to survive the ordeal with the hope that the good people of St. Kitts would come and save me. So I lay there for about three hours. It started to get very cold and when I looked up through the canopy of the tall trees I saw a lone star, and I prayed to that star for someone to come and find me," said Campbell.

Meanwhile, her fianc� who had reached the crater, returned to the area where their vehicle was parked but did not see her. He made a report at the St. Paul's Police Station and was fearful for her safety after it was known that she did not return to the Leeward House where they are residing during their 7-day vacation on the island. May told this newspaper that he, Woman Sergeant (W/SGT) Carla Wallace and another police officer went back up the mountain in search of Campbell. May pointed out that with the use of his Global Positioning System (GPS), he was able to pinpoint the exact position he last saw his fianc�.

He added that W/SGT Wallace called for re-enforcement, which included police officers from the Sandy Point and St. Paul's Police Stations and a number of civilians from St. Paul's Village. May noted that the search commenced shortly after 5 p.m. but proved futile after darkness stepped in. He however stated that W/SGT Wallace contacted her superiors and requested assistance from the St. Kitts and Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF).

According to Staff Officer responsible for Operations, Training and Intelligence, Major Leroy Perceval, a section of reserved soldiers from 'B' Company, under the command of Lance Corporal (LCPL) Calvin "Cap" Cooke, were sent with lanterns and flashlights to assist the police in the search for the missing US citizen. Major Perceval told The Observer that W/SGT Wallace was in contact with him by cellular phone throughout the search and rescue operation and he was confident that, under her leadership, the operation would have been successful, "because she is disciplined and always show commitment and professionalism in the execution of her duty."

Reports state that the search party located the missing woman at about 10:30 p.m. "About 10 minutes after my last prayer for help I heard voices shouting my name and I answered. It was the police and the military. I called out to them in the darkness and they located my position on the riverbed. She noted the concern of all those who assisted in getting her to safety and was amazed in seeing how the soldiers constructed a stretcher to bear her bruised body by using their camouflage jackets and pieces of saplings from within the area of rescue. Campbell's ordeal ended around 1:30 a.m. the following day after she was taken to the Joseph N France General Hospital, where she was admitted and treated for bruises and contusions to her left knee and left leg. She was discharged today, Friday, and is scheduled to return to the USA on Sunday.

Adding his kudos to the search party, May said, "We were treated politely, professionally and with courtesy. The people who worked under very adverse conditions to rescue my fianc� knew what they were doing and when to do what they did. "I felt very bad and horrible not seeing her in the vehicle but after speaking with SGT Wallace I had great hope of finding Linda. I was also very impressed with the professionalism and kindness of W/SGT Wallace, the soldiers and all those who in the search party; because though one may demonstrate professionalism one may not show kindness, but this is not so in St. Kitts."

Both Campbell and her fianc� said noted that the incident would not deter them from coming back to St. Kitts and they intend to spread the word of Kittitian hospitality back in the US.

SEARCH & RESCUE STORIES
ST. KITTS & NEVIS

NEWS ITEM FROM THE NEVIS DISASTER MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT - 1st Feb 2007

On Wednesday evening, members of the Nevis Search & Rescue (SAR) team, lead by Fire Sub-Officer Rommel Williams, along with officers of the Nevis Disaster Management Department, coordinated the search and rescue of Mr. Rolston Tyson of Hanley�s Road, Gingerland.

Mr. Tyson, 70 years of age, was last seen on Wednesday morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. at his home at Cedar Hills, Hanley�s Road. Following receipt of a report very late on Wednesday evening on his disappearance by the Nevis Disaster Management Department officials, members of the Search & Rescue Team was mobilized from the Charlestown Fire Station. With equipment secured from the Disaster Management Office, team members traveled to Hanley�s Road where a command base for the search and rescue operations was set up at the Hanley�s Road Community centre.

Scores of residents from Hanley�s road and persons from the surrounding areas were already on hand to assist in the late night search. After a thorough briefing by the team and production of search plans, six teams were assembled with 5 persons each, ensuring that each team had at least one person who was had intimate knowledge of the area. With equipment provided by the Disaster Office such as radios, powerful spotlights and cell phones etc., teams fanned out to designated area for the intensive and careful search.

At approximately 1 a.m. Mr. Tyson was found in relatively good health, and insisted on being able to walk back to the command centre. He was checked over at the centre by medical personnel and was transported to the Alexandra Hospital for a thorough checkup, after a brief meal.

The Nevis Disaster Management Department in the Premier�s Ministry, the St. Kitts & Nevis Fire & Rescue Services and other response agency personnel wish to sincerely thank the residents of Hanley�s road and the surrounding areas for their timely and compassionate assistance in the successful search for Mr. Tyson.

In related news, the St. Kitts - Nevis Fire & Rescue Services (Nevis Division) in conjunction with the Nevis Disaster Management Department will be staging a 2-day Training Course for volunteers on 3rd & 4th February at the Charlestown Fire Station. This training course will be the first part of a training regime for volunteers, with the second part being held at the National Emergency Management Agency headquarters in St. Kitts on 12th � 16th February 2007, with the assistance of the St. Petersburg, Florida, Fire Department.

Nevis recently received equipment to outfit one six (6) person team. The team is currently being expanded and strengthened with the inclusion of volunteers from Nevis who will serve as critical personnel not only of the SAR team but also for normal Fire & Rescue duties.

University students rescued from mountain - Monday February 12 2007

by Corliss Smithen (St. Kitts Sun)

A cell phone and the quick response of the St. Kitts/Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) are being credited for saving the lives of six Windsor University students who got lost in the mountains over the weekend.

The group left to go hiking up to the volcano at Mount Liamuiga last Saturday morning. However, when they did not return within the time they were expected, officials at the university became alarmed. �They were expected back by 2:30 p.m., but by 5:55 I received a call that the students went hiking and they are lost. Someone had called the police to notify them, but then I called the defence force,� Housing Officer Chris James told the SUN.

Our country can hold its own - Tuesday February 13 2007 St. Kitts Sun Link

Everyone in the Federation should be offering kudos to those who were instrumental in helping to carry out the rescue of some Windsor University students who were lost on Mount Liamuiga over the weekend.

The group had set off to explore the volcano and was to have returned by mid-afternoon. Just a few minutes before 6 p.m. and they had not returned, an alarm was raised and a defence force team was mobilised to search for the hiking party.

In the end, the rescue seemed quite a routine, especially to those people who might have been huddled in the comfort of their own homes, perhaps in a warm bed. We are sure that for the group of hikers there was no joy until they heard the voices of their rescuers and knew that they would be soon down the mountainside and back to safety.

True, it might not have been Mount Everest, but the bare fact that these people were well and truly lost and the search party had to abandon their operation until the next day, tells us that there was some stress surrounding this episode.

Who knows what might have happened had these people been made to stay an extra 24 hours exposed to the elements. No one could be sure that one or more of them might not have had a low threshold as far as surviving in trying conditions is concerned. Therefore, it was imperative that the rescue be effected as soon as possible and even a 24 hour delay might have proven to be too much for one or a few of the individuals.

What we find very praiseworthy is the way in which both the lost and the rescuers conducted themselves until everyone was back safely to where he/she belonged. There seemed to have been no panic and it was because of this that the rescue seemed so routine.

The party on the mountain was given solid advice as to how to stay in touch with their rescuers and must have felt comforted in the fact that they had a direct line to someone at all times � someone who calmed and reassured them and told them of the best ways to stay in touch even about the best way to keep their cellular phone service active.

This episode has probably served notice that as small as St. Kitts might be, there are certain elements of danger to explorers of, especially, Mount Liamuiga. We shudder to think what might have happened if this situation had presented itself to a lone camper or even two and with neither having access to cellular phones. They might not have been so lucky, especially if they had not bothered to tell anybody of their proposed trip and even given times as to their expected return. It could have been a very long time before these people or dead bodies might have been found, if even found at all.

But out of every bad situation some good can come.

Immediately, we have realised that this country has a mountain that can offer lots to our stay-over visitors, especially those who might have an urge to explore through hiking. With so many tourists expected in the country over the next few weeks it might not be such a bad move for a group of experts to pool their resources and create a challenging hiking trail as part of what could turn out to be a very diverse tourism package offered by this country. If not this, then what about a similar group acquiring the necessary safety gear and other devices and operating hiking trips for visitors?

It is our understanding that this is done on a small scale but, we think the potential is there for some really major business for some very resourceful group.

But, the dangers of such adventures must not escape us and even locals, who might want to do a mountain trek, must know there is a need to be particularly prepared and extremely careful as they make their way along the paths of adventure.

Not unlike what almost happened to these Windsor University students, something unexpected can happen and a very dangerous situation can present itself, a situation from which the unprepared might not be able to escape.