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"EMS sees increase in mountain bike accidents"
Evolution in action....
Mike http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pb...04/ADVERTISING BENT CREEK * Carly Heyman is amazed at her good fortune when she looks at the broken helmet, filled with rock-bashed holes that could have been in her head. While wearing the helmet was smart * likely saving Heyman's life in a nasty mountain biking accident in March * the 23-year-old novice rider knows she also made some costly mistakes. For starters, she began her ride late in the day when it was close to dark and when she was tired. She had little experience on single track, and although she was with an experienced friend, she rode behind him, and he didn't see her fall. Neither rider carried a cell phone. All mistakes that Tim Hinman, operations officer with the Skyland Fire Department emergency medical services, said he sees too frequently. As the agency that responds to emergency calls in the Bent Creek area, Hinman said his staff has been extra busy the past couple of years as the number of 911 calls from mountain biking accidents has more than tripled. “In the last four years in particular, the number of mountain bike accidents has grown exponentially,” Hinman said. “Last July, we had a call every day for two weeks straight. We usually get 10 calls a year (for mountain bike accidents). In 2008, we had more than 30 calls. In the past three years we had two deaths.” So far this year he has had seven calls, including Heyman's accident, and as the long days of summer heat up, Hinman is expecting more calls for help from the forest. July has the most accidents. By contrast, accidents do not appear to be rising in DuPont State Forest in Transylvania County, another popular mountain biking area, said forest supervisor David Brown. “In 2008, we had a total of seven accidents, including hikers, bikers and horseback riders,” Brown said. “In 2007, there were five, so there has not been a marked increase.” Brown said about a quarter of the 139,000 yearly visitors to DuPont are mountain bikers. Randy Burgess, district ranger for the Pisgah District of Pisgah National Forest, which includes Bent Creek, said a visitation study is under way so current numbers are not available. But he said recreational use is on the rise, as evidenced by the overflowing parking areas any day of the week, and Bent Creek's proximity to Asheville draws more people than any other local mountain biking area. (2 of 5) As a mountain biker himself, Hinman doesn't resent emergency calls, but he wants people to be better prepared. Putting the pieces together Heyman wiped out on the Pine Tree Loop Trail while on an evening ride in Bent Creek Experimental Forest just southwest of Asheville in late March. She has no memory of the accident, but friends and rescuers have helped her to piece together the events. Heyman, a native of Atlanta, was in her last semester at the Medical College of Georgia and had been nearly done with a three-month rotation as an occupational therapy intern at CarePartners. “I really wanted to come to Asheville because I love the outdoors scene,” Heyman said. “I was so excited to be here. I met so many people who had similar interests like hiking and mountain biking. I had been to Bent Creek three times prior (to the accident) and had been mountain biking maybe seven or eight times total.” One Tuesday evening, Heyman and her friend Ben Morrison decided to go for a ride in Bent Creek. “I was tired when we started,” she said. “I was riding behind Ben. I remember seeing Ben do a jump and thinking, ‘That's cool.' And that's all I remember.” Heyman's next memories are of being chilled to the bone, feeling blood running down her face and Morrison * whom she didn't recognize –* sitting her down and telling her he was going for help. 'Very spooky' situation Ben Morrison, 27, is considered an advanced mountain biker. “I ride like it's my religion,” said Morrison, who works at Earth Fare. “If I'm free, I ride every day, as much as I can. I know the Bent Creek trails in my sleep.” He had been riding only twice with his friend Heyman, a novice rider. As they had done previously, Morrison led the way, Heyman following behind as fast as she could. “I had already done a road ride that day, so it was pure bliss for me to go mountain biking,” Morrison said. “I was feeling great, it was a beautiful evening, a little misty, a little wet, sun peeking through the clouds, beginning to set.” (3 of 5) After riding about 45 minutes, at the bottom of a hilly section, Morrison didn't hear Heyman behind him. He stopped to wait. After a couple of minutes, he figured she was having mechanical issues and turned back. “I see her on her bike, covered in blood, yelling for help,” Morrison said. “It was very spooky. It breaks my heart. I said, ‘I know this is not good.' I didn't feel much of anything. It was just, ‘We've got to save this girl's life.'” Morrison got Heyman off her bike and sat her down. Her helmet was broken, and she didn't know who he was or what day it was. She was freezing cold. It was getting dark. “She was begging me not to leave, but I knew I had to go for help,” Morrison said. He never had success with cell phone reception in Bent Creek, so he didn't have one with him. He rode as hard as he could, about a mile to Hard Times Trailhead, hoping to see someone, but the parking area was dead. He rode farther on to Rice Pinnacle Trailhead, where his truck was parked and called 911. He told the dispatch to send help to Hard Times and started riding back to Heyman. He met three women, one of whom had a medical background, and she offered to go with Morrison. They met another group of riders, and one rider, Justin Mitchell, also agreed to go with them. “I thought, ‘Two people, thank God,'” Morrison said. When Mitchell saw where Heyman was, he rode back to the trailhead to direct EMS personnel back to her. Nearly an hour after Heyman's accident occurred, medical help arrived, and she began her bumpy ride strapped to a stretcher on a specially equipped all-terrain vechicle, back to the trailhead where an ambulance was waiting to take her to Mission Hospital. She spent two nights in the hospital, emerging from the wreckage with a concussion, a broken back, 30 stitches in her face (mostly around her left eye), hairline fractures to her face and hand, and multiple other cuts and bruises. Common mistakes Heyman's accident fits into a common set of mistakes. (4 of 5) More than 80 percent of the emergency calls from Bent Creek are from people from out of town * visitors or riders new to Asheville who are not familiar with the trails or the terrain, or not familiar enough with the sport, Hinman said. “People need to educate themselves,” he said. “They need to have a map and know where they are.” One of the biggest problems his department encounters is in locating people who have had an accident and can't tell dispatch where they are. Or they don't have a cell phone with them and need to walk out of the woods wounded or leave a wounded friend to get help. By the time they get to a phone, it is hard for them to give directions to 911 to locate their friend. “Nothing frustrates an emergency responder more than not being able to get to a person who's hurt because they don't know where they are,” Hinman said. Using GPS technology, dispatch can locate people using their cell phones, so the closer they are to where an accident happens, the easier they are to find, Hinman said. Hinman now dedicates one month out of the year to special training for his department of 42 full-time and 25 part-time firefighters focused on wilderness rescue in the 6,400-acre Bent Creek area, which has some 45 miles of trails. The training includes sending crews out on emergency drills to locate victims with only a vague description of where they are or only a trail name; performing wilderness first aid; and loading a victim onto the ATV. He also does the drills at night. This year, Skyland Fire Department bought a new $20,000 ATV so the department can always respond to an emergency call in the forest with two ATVs and a crew of four. “We're there to respond to emergencies and try to mitigate these situations as much as possible,” he said. “But one thing that scares me is that we see a lot of people not wearing helmets. We try to stop and educate people. We see a lot of head injuries.” Getting educated Hinman said firefighters are also trying to work with cycling groups like the Pisgah Area Southern Off Road Bicycle Association to help spread the message. (5 of 5) “We have beginner rides every Sunday, and we really encourage people to come out,” said Mike Brown, who works on trail advocacy for Pisgah Area SORBA. He said these rides help orient new mountain bike riders to the subtleties of the sport. “If you're a novice, stick to the easy to moderate trails,” he said. “They have these designations for a reason. If you come to a difficult section, there's nothing wrong with walking.” Riding with a group can also help you pick up mountain biking “common sense,” Brown said. “Your bike goes in the direction you are looking,” he said. “If you are looking up at a tree you don't want to hit, you're going to hit that tree. A lot of people fall because they slow down too much and lose momentum. If you can't ride with speed, it's better to get off and walk. It sounds so basic, but it's really not.” Heyman said she is eternally grateful to Skyland Fire Department and the doctors and staff at Mission who took care of her, and in return, she will ride more safely and help to educate other mountain bike riders. “I'm an adrenaline junkie, but I was scared. I'm a different rider now,” said Heyman, who was already on her bike a month after the accident but must stick to flat roads while her back heals. “I will never go riding without a helmet. I want to take a skills course. I will always call someone before I go out riding. I'm going to carry plenty of water, plenty of warm clothes. I'll always bring a cell phone. “Mountain biking is a rough sport. It's not something to be taken lightly.” -- I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.) Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of! http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande |
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#2
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"EMS sees increase in hiking accidents"
"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message ... Evolution in action.... Mike http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090529/.../sbd_obit_ruby |
#3
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"Eco-terrorism"
On Jun 18, 10:04*am, Mike Vandeman wrote:
Since Mike was MIA for a bit, it would be a smart to check and see if any eco-terrorism has been committed lately. |
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