Helicopter Rescues in Tasmania

[Overlandman]

From the Mercury
Updated version

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasma ... 7179500944

POLICE have praised the preparedness of a 53-year-old woman from Melbourne who spent a night lost in scrub off the South Coast Track, saying the bushwalker’s decision to carry a personal emergency beacon had saved her life.

The woman, who was nearing the end of the multi-day South Coast Track hike, became separated from her daughter on an afternoon downhill trek.

After a cold night sheltering in the thick scrub of the South West National Park, the walker was picked up by the Westpac Police Rescue helicopter yesterday morning.

Tasmania Police Senior Constable Chris Williams said the fact the woman had the vital emergency device, and had endeavoured to stay warm and dry during her overnight ordeal, served as a valuable lesson to anyone venturing into the state’s wild areas.

“This was a life-changing experience for the woman and her daughter, because if this lady did not have an EPIRB on her I wouldn’t like our chances of finding her in the spot she had managed to get into,” Mr Williams said today.

“The wilderness was quite thick and also very steep in that area and she was well off the track, so we would have spent a considerable time searching before we came across her.

“We were only in that particular area of the bush this morning because the EPIRB she had activated had pinpointed us to that location.”

A helicopter rescue team had originally set out last night after the woman’s daughter called police on a borrowed satellite phone, but were forced to call off the operation at 10pm due to deteriorating weather conditions.

The search resumed at first light today, with the woman being found just after 7.30am suffering from exposure and fatigue.

After being winched to safety, she received medical treatment on a flight to Southport before being ferried to Hobart via ambulance.

Mr Williams warned would-be walkers that the weather in Tasmania “could change in a heartbeat”, and that taking the proper precautions definitely included carrying the latest beacon technology.

“You never know what’s around the corner in the bush, and in this situation the EPIRB really saved this lady’s life,” he said.

[dplanet]

Thanks Azza for clearing up my questions.
It would be a good idea if you copy & paste your post and put it in the Lake Rhona Walk topic.
Regards Overlandman

Related link to Gordon River log crossing viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1735&p=118730#p118730

Another one for Lake Rhona,
I cant really work this one out, how did the Police know the two were disorientated, were they also overdue?
Did the family in the rescue above, know about this couple, did they tell the Police there were a couple still on the track?
Regards Overlandman

http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/279 ... ety/?cs=87

TWO local bushwalkers were rescued by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter today after becoming disorientated on a walk to Lake Rhona in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park.At 11am today Tasmania Police Search and Rescue organised an air and land search for the 23-year-old man and 20-year-old female who never returned from the walk.

The pair did not have a personal locator beacon.

Search and rescue parties searched the Lake Rhona track with no result and feared the pair may have fallen into the Gordon River.

At 2pm the helicopter crew spotted the pair on the western bank of the Gordon River, a spot known as the Gordon Bend.

The helicopter crew winched the pair safely from the river bank.

The search and rescue team said today's rescue was a timely reminder for those planning on going for a bushwalk to tell someone about their specific plans for the walk, to carry a personal locator beacon and have recent maps of the area.

For those, who use LISTmap 1:25 000 online, GDA94 MGA55, here is the link to the coordinates conversion tool http://www.binaryearth.net/GeographicTool/index.php , which is useful to convert maps AGD66.

[Overlandman]

From the Mercury

A WESTPAC Rescue Helicopter was called out early this morning to assist an injured Victorian hiker in Pine Valley in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair national park.

At approximately 3.30am the helicopter attended Pine Valley Hut on the Overland Track after an EPIRB was activated.

They were responding to the distress call of a female walker from the Melbourne suburb of Eltham who had injured her knee.

She was with two other walkers and was found by crews at 6.45am this morning.

She was transported to Lake St Clair once found.

[Aztec]

3.30am? going out for a night time poo, and missed a step?

[Strider]

3.30am? going out for a night time poo, and missed a step?

Either that or they were waiting from earlier in the night and her condition worsened rapidly?

[Scottyk]

3.30am? going out for a night time poo, and missed a step?

Makes you wonder doesn't it. I can't imagine a situation that an injured knee would lead to a 3am helicopter rescue?
Only 2-3 hours flat walk from the ferry (fit walking of course).

The rise of plb's for every group saves lives, no doubt. It also results in the rescue chopper being kept busy picking up people who would have waked out if they didn't have one.
Not much can be done I think but does get you thinking.

[Nuts]

No updates for some time from TRT, policy shift?

http://www.tasmanianairrescuetrust.org/media-releases

[MrWalker]

3.30am? going out for a night time poo, and missed a step?

Makes you wonder doesn't it. I can't imagine a situation that an injured knee would lead to a 3am helicopter rescue?
Only 2-3 hours flat walk from the ferry (fit walking of course).

The rise of plb's for every group saves lives, no doubt. It also results in the rescue chopper being kept busy picking up people who would have waked out if they didn't have one.
Not much can be done I think but does get you thinking.

PLBs also save a lot of time for the rescuers. There could be 4 times as many callouts by PLB and the rescue service would still be ahead by not having 25% of those as searches.
Even if some people could walk out, they might take enough extra time to end up having their friends at home ask for a search. In other cases an injury might end up being a lot worse after someone hobbled on it for many km when they could ride out.

[bumpingbill]

No updates for some time from TRT, policy shift?

http://www.tasmanianairrescuetrust.org/media-releases

The media are still writing stories, so it's my bet the press releases are being sent out - but just not published online.

[Overlandman]

From ABC News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-17/t ... ss/6023010

Search and rescue crews have rescued two German hikers from rugged bushland in southern Tasmania.

Police say the two men, aged 39 and 40, had spent 10 days trying to make their way along New River to Federation Peak.

The river flooded after record rain, and an emergency device was activated about 8:00am Saturday morning.

The rescue helicopter battled rain and high winds to winch the pair to safety.

Police said the men were cold but unhurt, have been well equipped and experienced.

They say the rescue was a timely reminder of how hostile the Tasmanian wilderness could be even in the height of summer.

[north-north-west]

Wonder if the Breminator's silence was due to emigration . . .

Not that it's been much of a summer so far.

[Old Fart]

Was just reading the epic new river to Fed thread again the other day

[jmac]

This week's significant rain event could be seen coming on the forecast from a long time prior. It was definitely not the right time to attempt this route, in my opinion.

[Overlandman]

Also from Abc
Elderly bushwalker airlifted to hospital

Earlier today an 83-year-old woman was airlifted to hospital in Hobart after she hurt her leg bushwalking near Cradle Mountain, in the centre of the state.

Police say the British woman was on a guided tour of the Overland Track when she injured her leg on Thursday.

She was picked up in the rescue helicopter at Frog Flats and a hospital spokesman said she was in a stable condition.

[Old Fart]

And the mighty Gordon, stops another two- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/t ... ss/6023712

[MickyB]

Also from Abc
Elderly bushwalker airlifted to hospital

Earlier today an 83-year-old woman was airlifted to hospital in Hobart after she hurt her leg bushwalking near Cradle Mountain, in the centre of the state.

Police say the British woman was on a guided tour of the Overland Track when she injured her leg on Thursday.

She was picked up in the rescue helicopter at Frog Flats and a hospital spokesman said she was in a stable condition.

Gee. What a shame. Great effort to attempt the OT at 83 years old. I would be happy just to be walking at 83 let alone walking the OT.

[north-north-west]

And the mighty Gordon, stops another two- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/t ... ss/6023712

What the hell are all these people thinking, going in there given the weather we've had this month? It's bad enough from international visitors but locals really should know better.

[Dolerite Walker]

Ahhh, summer is here once more and so the hordes descend on Tasmania's wilderness. Not surprisingly, the number of rescues shoots up. This is becoming predictable and very tiresome. Maybe it's time bushwalking visitors to this state were required to make a $1000 deposit, to be used should they require rescuing.

[Nuts]

Those germans sound suspiciously alike?

Thick and fast, even so there are some gaps..

A worthwhile public interest topic OLM, to know of all these events and in detail. Personally, I support the listings direct from TAC rather than media filtered (just saying, there may be a plausible reason for the downtime?)

(http://www.tasmanianairrescuetrust.org/media-releases)

[north-north-west]

Those germans sound suspiciously alike?

Yeah, I had to read the article three times before I got it straight. The detail about the German pair related to the earlier rescue, the one from the New River. This pair were Tasmanian. I couldn't work out how people would be crossing the Gordon on the way from Cockle Creek to Fedders . . .

[Nuts]

Yeah, ok, that makes more sense. I started with 4 germans and 2 tasmanians and skipped to thinking their were two germans and some dodgy reporting.

[Scottyk]

Ahhh, summer is here once more and so the hordes descend on Tasmania's wilderness. Not surprisingly, the number of rescues shoots up. This is becoming predictable and very tiresome. Maybe it's time bushwalking visitors to this state were required to make a $1000 deposit, to be used should they require rescuing.

Maybe a compulsory insurance as part of your park pass fee that would give the rescue chopper some cash for all these rescues

[ben.h]

Just one specific solution off the top of my head...
A high(er than the log crossing) constructed footbridge over the Gordon would be paid for by a couple of helicopter rescues (and be less of an intrusion over time than a number of helicopter rescues a year), wouldn't it?

<running for cover>

[icefest]

Or just remove the tree so as too make it a deep wade. That'll scare plenty away

[dplanet]

Just one specific solution off the top of my head...
A high(er than the log crossing) constructed footbridge over the Gordon would be paid for by a couple of helicopter rescues (and be less of an intrusion over time than a number of helicopter rescues a year), wouldn't it?

<running for cover>

+1 for an upgrade on the log crossing, which could save much more than expenses on the (helicopter) rescues.

[Strider]

Construction of a bridge means many many more people could potentially access an extremely sensitive area which is already frightfully overpatronised.

The problem isn't the crossing. The problem is that people are going in unprepared for the scenario they might be faced with on their way out.

[Overlandman]

Last Rescue for the weekend

The most recently rescued person was a 46-year-old woman who was walking towards Lune River when she was separated from her son and was unable to find the track.

Her son raised the alarm and she was located by the police rescue helicopter a short time later.

[Azza]

Just one specific solution off the top of my head...
A high(er than the log crossing) constructed footbridge over the Gordon would be paid for by a couple of helicopter rescues (and be less of an intrusion over time than a number of helicopter rescues a year), wouldn't it?

<running for cover>

+1 for an upgrade on the log crossing, which could save much more than expenses on the (helicopter) rescues.

I actually doubt it would save money all factors considered.

The Gordon is pretty wide at that point and when in flood it inundates the river banks well back into the forest. You just have to look at all the flood debris scattered around the area.
So the cost of building a bridge capable of surviving a decent flood that is bringing logs and all sort of floating debris down the river is going to be huge.
The current log, pretty damn big! its only come down in the last 8 or so years.. what's to say a new bridge doesn't get KO'ed by a massive fallen tree or washed away in the first big flood?
So I don't think the economics of building are that great, ongoing liability because the structure has been provided, continually repairs and the fact the road needs to be maintained to access it, otherwise why bother.

its going to end up way more than the cost of a few helicopter rescues per year.

There is a sign at the start of the track put there by the police that requests parties carry 3-4 days extra food because the river is prone to flooding.
Still seems like many don't bother to read the advice or heed the weather forecast.

Its a tough one, if people don't take notice as the next 3 metre wide tree that comes down on Tiger Rd might not get cleared.

[dplanet]

Something like it would be nice. See attached file.

[stepbystep]

With Azza on this one.

Frankly until the Rhona toiletry issue is resolved I wouldn't care if the log disappears. Too many uneducated/irresponsible walkers getting in there. A bridge is a very bad idea presently!