bwca Boundary Waters rescue

[Rick]

Two conservation officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources were among the first responders to an emergency call July 7 inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. They joined other first responders from St. Louis and Lake counties after a teenage canoeist from Rochester became trapped in rapids after going over Basswood Falls near the Minnesota-Canadian border.

It took DNR conservation officers Marty Stage and Sean Williams, both of Ely, several hours by motorboat, canoe, and foot to reach the scene, where the initial team was completing rescue lines to the victim and canoe.

Together rescuers were able to free the teenager’s foot, get him to shore and begin to warm him up after being submerged in rushing water for nearly six hours.

“He was extremely hypothermic, going in and out of consciousness,” said Williams. “I think his foot was fine, which was amazing – just swollen and bruised.”

A State Patrol helicopter later arrived, and the victim was brought to a U.S. Forest Service float plane for transport to the Ely hospital for treatment.
 
Officer Stage said it was a tense situation that could easily have ended badly. “Luckily it was a beautiful warm day with no wind, and there was a lot of time until nightfall."

The lesson learned once again is not to take unnecessary chances in such a remote wilderness setting," Stage said. "Even with today's technology, when something goes wrong like it did this time, basic tools, some common sense, and other people might still be your best chance for survival.”

[monstermoose78]

I understand it was a teenager but come on that is a heck or rapids/ falls. The portage is not around the falls is not bad going into basswood coming out heart attack hill is a pain pulling a loaded boat out.  Lucky Kid to be a live. 

[nofishfisherman]

I followed some of this on another forum and one of the responding rescuers posted more information.  It sounds like there were a lot of really bad decisions made by this group and that the adult leadership was somewhat suspect.  The group that went through the falls was a part of a larger church group.  They had been stopped by the Forest Service a day or two previously and fined for traveling in a group over the 9 person/ 4 canoe limit.  They were then forced to split up and adhere to the group size limits.

Thankfully everything seems to have turned out alright in the end.  Hopefully if this group ever does another trip they look at the leadership present on the trip and get the right people in place to ensure a safe trip.  Leading a trip in the BWCA isn't rocket science and even a novice can do it if needed.  The only requirements are a basic understanding of the rules of the BWCA and leave no trace policy, and some common sense about risk mitigation.  

[delcecchi]

There was a long article in the Timberjay.  That kid is incredibly lucky to be alive.  They tried to shoot the rapids to save taking the portage.  As we say in our group, they pegged the doughhead meter. 

It was a miracle that the Canadians happened to be there with radio communications. 

http://timberjay.com/stories/Rescue-in-the-BWCA,12183?content_source=&category_id=5&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id=

BASSWOOD RIVER—An incredible response by area rescuers saved the life of a 15-year-old boy on Tuesday morning, after he was trapped under a log for more than six hours in heavy rapids in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

“This young man is very, very lucky to be alive,” said Kurt Erickson, who coordinates the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, which was integral in this latest rescue effort.

The young man, named Asher, was a member of a youth ministry group from Rochester. He had originally been part of a group of 13, but the group had split up after being ticketed the day before for exceeding the party size limit in the federal wilderness area.

Asher was traveling at the time in a group of five campers, who had hoped to avoid portaging by shooting Cable Rapids on the Basswood River. But the group underestimated the power of the rapids, and both canoes quickly capsized. One group managed to float to safety, but Asher’s ankle became wedged between one of the smashed canoes and a submerged log. The intense pressure of the water against the canoe made it impossible for the other campers in his group to free him.

An adult with the party, named Matt, was forced to hold Asher’s head up for hours to prevent him from slipping under the rapids.

From there, the group’s luck took a turn for the better. About two hours after the canoes capsized, at about1 p.m., two Canadian Ranger volunteers passed by and they contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office by radio to alert them to the situation. Lake County contacted the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, which mobilized the response.

The first rescuers, DNR conservation officers Sean Williams and Marty Stage, arrived at about 3 p.m. in a DNR boat. Morse Township rescuers, including Jim Blauch and James Devine, arrived by johnboat from LaTourell’s shortly after. Forest Service pilot Pat Loe flew two more Morse rescuers and a St. Louis County deputy in to the site in a Beaver.

Rescuers offered to relieve Matt, who had been in the water, holding up Asher’s head, for more than four hours at that point. “But Matt wouldn’t budge,” said Erickson, and he remained with Asher until he was eventually freed.

Initial attempts to free Asher were unsuccessful. Rescuers managed to get a rope tied under Asher’s armpits. They also attached a line to the broken canoe, and attempted to free it from shore, hoping it would release Asher. But they could barely budge the canoe and each attempt appeared to pull the young man further under the water.

Eventually, with technical help from Jon Olson, one of the rescue squads most accomplished members, the group rigged a pulley system with a 5:1 advantage. But even that was barely enough to do the job, and a 25,000-pound carabiner that Devine had attached to the canoe was bent from the pressure. But rescuers finally freed the canoe, at about 4:30 p.m., which allowed Asher to float free.

After nearly six hours in the water, the boy was hypothermic and only semi-conscious. His ankle was also severely injured from the pressure of the canoe, which largely cut off circulation. Rescuers immediately began warming him with hot packs and emergency blankets.

As rescuers were administering to Asher on shore, a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, which had been dispatched from St. Paul, finally arrived on the scene and hovered in place while another rescuer descended by rope and brought Asher on board using a sling. From there, he was transferred to the waiting Beaver floating not far away, which flew him back to Ely.

According to Erickson, Asher was “in extreme peril,” the entire time and could have died from any of a number of potential mistakes or simply bad luck. He credited the success to a diverse group of mostly volunteers who constantly train and work together for these kinds of incidents.

Matt, who had held Asher’s head for hours, traveled out of the wilderness with the rescue crew and went immediately to the Ely Bloomenson Hospital to check on Asher’s condition. The rest of the party stayed overnight on Tuesday and came out the following day.

As of Wednesday, Asher remained hospitalized with crushing injuries to his leg and foot.