A sad EMS call | Letter
Published 2:16 pm Wednesday, April 2, 2014
It is with great pride, respect and humility that I write this letter; and also with sadness that such a tragic event occurred. I know our entire department sends their thoughts and prayers.
When a 911 call came in Saturday, March 22 for an island resident who fell about 150 feet from a cliff to a beach, members of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue came from all over the island. They dropped whatever they were doing to help, in a professional and coordinated way that can only be called amazing.
Fire Chief Kevin O’Brien coordinated the incident from the Fire Station as we mounted multiple plans for gaining access, treating and transporting a trapped and critical member of our community.
In all, 29 members of Orcas Fire Rescue were involved. Included were paramedics Bryce Hamilton, Patrick Shepler, Scott Williams and Dave Zoeller.
Bryce was the medic actually “on-duty” and was completing an air transport of a patient when this call came in. As soon as possible Bryce completed the transfer and drove to Brandt’s Landing to meet Dmitri Stankevich with the Camp Orkila Boat.
Paramedic Dave Zoeller provided coverage for any calls which might occur during the incident. Paramedic Scott Williams made his way to the patient from above by hiking down the cliff while Bryce, Rita Harvey and other OIFR volunteers responded by water to the scene.
Additional EMTs and firefighters made their way down from above and brought ropes, a stokes basket and hauling and safety gear from our rescue division.
Chief O’Brien had other assets responding, including the fire boat Confidence from Friday Harbor and Airlift Northwest from Olympia. Every EMS aircraft in the region was busy when this incident occurred as a result of multiple transports from the mudslide disaster in Snohomish County.
As two paramedics and multiple firefighters and EMTs gained access, by both water and the very steep climb down the cliff, O’Brien requested a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Port Angeles.
The expertise of the U.S. Coast Guard cannot be left out. The pilot skillfully placed their craft on a postage-stamp size of beach.
Paramedic Bryce continued to care for the patient as our members loaded the patient safely into the orange chopper, hovering on two wheels the whole time. Care was continued in flight, straight to the landing pad at Harborview Trauma Center in Seattle.
The Coast Guard crew later told Bryce that they could not believe we were primarily a volunteer department, and compared our team’s skills to those of a major urban rescue team.
I am so sorry this tragedy occurred, and also humbled by our awesome team.
Patrick Shepler
Orcas Fire and Rescue
