This is our whole year together on the exam. We had a couple minutes while we were standing by for further instruction to snap a photo.
Friday, November 21, 2008
0400: Met at the Gear Shed on campus with our packs. We were told what mountain we were going to be on and that we were to pack as if we were guiding a day hike. So we all had a far amount of gear within our groups and we kind of new of the possibility of being out overnight so we packed a little extra warm clothes. Once we met, we were told to form up outside with our packs on. We were then instructed to do 60 jumping-jacks, 30 push-ups, 2 minutes of the plank position and then run two laps around campus, all while wearing our packs.
0445: We left campus in two seperate vans and each went in different directions. The van I was in drove to the base of the mountain and dropped us off on a side road in an open field a little ways from the road that went up the mountain. We were left by ourselves as the van took off. It was so quiet and the sky was completely clear so it was awesome to be out then. We got a call over our radios to go to a specific coordinate and then call in when we got there. The coordinate given was near the top of the mountain by a lake so we headed up the road to a trail that would take us there.
0950: We came to the lake. The second group has not arrived yet so we were instructed to find them and bring them to the lake. We were told the coordinates of where they were dropped off so we just had to find the trail closest to that and hike down calling them on the radio until we came into contact with them. At 1120 we had found them and brought them back to the lake. Then we were instructed to hike up to the summit and wait there for further instructions. Once the instructors arrived up there we got into our four groups and did a first aid senario so that each of us got an opportunity to be a guide. We had to find the injuried person, assess the situation, preform first aid, splint them if needed and create a plan for getting them out of the woods.
1900: We completed the first aid senarios, it was snowing then!, and were told to go a new spot to wait for next instructions. It wasn't until 2000 that they called us and told them to walk down the mountain road until we met them. When we did they basically told us we were finished and could return to the base of the mountain the way we came up.
2030: We had gotten back to the lake when we found a girl who was yelling names and appeared to be lost. A few guys were able to talk to her and found out that she had been hiking up here with two other friends and she could not find them. So we made a plan that each group would search a different trail based on the info she had given us of where their car was and what their experience was. My group headed back down the trail we came up and we would walk a short distance, yell there names and then listen for a few seconds.
2200: We found the two hikers! It was really cool that my group found them because we got to have the most action so it was really fun. The guy hiker, Dave, had fallen off the trail down a steep slope and injured his neck or upper back. Right from when we found them we had to hold his head real still. I did this most of the time while another guy preformed first aid, a girl called the other groups on the radio and two other guys set up a tarp above them and talked to the other girl to try to calm her down, let her know who we were and what we were going to do. We found out that Dave didn't have feelings in his legs and his fingers were kind of tingly. So we made a soft splint for his neck and then packed him with a sleeping bag and our extra clothes to keep him warm. We still had to hold his neck real still just to be sure he didn't move it, so we took turns doing that.
We radioed the other groups to let them know of his condition and injuries and then decided we would need a stretch and ropes to get him out. One group started walking out to find cell phone signal to get a rope team and the ambulance. Then we just had to wait and keep the patients warm and us warm as bet we could. It got really cold and it was hard to get warm again once we got chilled.
0520: Saturday morning: We heard over the radio that the stretcher team was at the lake and would be at us soon. It took about an hour to get Dave onto the stretcher and tied in. We then had to carry him a little ways along the bank, then bellay him up back onto the trail. Then we had to carry him about 1/3 of a mile which took an hour and 15 minutes. We took him back up to the lake because there was a spot there where a helicopter would have been able to get him with a cable.
0810: After we got him to the lake, our instructors told us we could untie him and we sorted all of our gear and packed everything away. We had to then hike back up part of the mountain a ways to the road. At 0900 then we had to sit down on our packs along the road and they handed out written exams to each of us, telling us we had one hour to complete it. It was so rough! It wasn't the hardest exam ever, it was lot of map stuff and basic seach and rescue stuff. It was snowing though as we were sitting there and we were all really cold. After the exam was up our instructors told it that it was finally over, for real this time. 30 1/2 hours later, with no sleep and not much food or water, we were done!
It was really fun to be out there in the woods and doing SAR for real! Everything about it was realistic and we really would have had to wait that long for the stretcher team to come. But then, just as we were headed back to the vans, our instructor goes, "Merry Christmas, these exams don't count!" Reffering to the written exams. They were just to see how much our minds could take after being awake all night.
We got back to campus around lunch time and we all took hot showers, ate a ton of lunch and then slept until it was time to go to church on Sunday.
That was the last of our trips for the semester so now all thats left is book work and time in the library, so I am ready to be home for break. We just have our timed run and swim left too. The run was on Wednesday but I have a pinched nerve in each of my feet so its pretty painful to run, and even walk. So I've been swimming a lot and have taken over 3 minutes off my time since the beginning of the semester which is sweet!
Now it is time to finish a 15 page paper, put together a trip plan and then move into the apartment that my room mate and I will be living in next semester. 12 more days until Vermont!
This is me and Lonnie, another girl in OL who I have become really good friends with. This was on the exam while we were waiting for more instructions.
