CHRIS MCBETH
Well-Known Member
My wife and I had the good fortune of coming up to Powell over the weekend to participate in the Striper spawn, which Saturday afternoon resulted in catching 6 of the biggest fish either of us had ever seen in person, let alone caught.
That evening, we had the pleasure of sharing dinner with Wayne and his lovely wife in Page, and overall the weekend was shaping up to be one of those defining moments in ones life that sticks with you the rest of your days.
Who knows, but we may never again have the luck we had on Saturday, catching huge Striper after huge Striper in the middle of the afternoon (very back of Navajo Canyon)?
Sunday, we got up and enjoyed the sunrise and a cup of coffee, and got back out on the lake no later than 6:00am.
We fished, and explored, and went site-seeing all day, and around noon sadly had to return to Wahweap for our trek home.
Tired, content, and grateful for a weekend that could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime to many people.
This is where the story gets a bit melancholy:
Upon returning to the ramp, and coming out the other side of the cut, we realized the entire ramp was covered by emergency vehicles. Once we got closer and tied up to the back side of the retrieval dock, we learned there was someone in cardiac arrest. The EMT's were on the launch side giving him compressions for almost 30 minutes in an effort to keep him with us.
Watching this, we were reminded of the not-too-distant past when my own Mother who (we thought) was in very good health, fit, trim, and experienced a devastating heart attack while we were boogy boarding at Stinson Beach California three years ago.
Seeing these guys trying to save his life, and his family not too far away observing helpless in total shock about the gravity of that moment...
We have no idea whether than man lived or not. It sure didn't look good when they took him away in the ambulance, but maybe??????? (We tried searching the news and couldn't find anything).
When we finally got the boat off the water and I text'd Wayne, he mentioned his wife had been monitoring the radio and a girl had drowned down by the damn so we don't know if there were two incidents or if the person we saw treated by the EMT's was related.
Regardless, in that moment the paradise we knew as Powell transformed into something else; A place where it's easy to "forget" how fragile life is.
Perhaps the moral of this story is (and I know it's obvious... but we humans have a tendency to get complacent in the absence of imminent danger or death):
1. Take care of yourself, and your loved ones on the lake. Use caution and common sense and keep your vacation from taking a terrible turn.
2. Prepare for emergencies - E.g. make sure everyone on the boat is briefed on the basic operation of the boat, how to use the radio, etc.
3. And maybe on a much larger scale: If you have health issues, make SURE you have the things you need to make the chance of an emergency as slim as you can e.g. take extra medication, ensure others are aware of your condition, be mindful of the responsibility you have to your loved ones to have a defibrillator if you have a heart problem, keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum while operating or in remote areas, drink lots of water, keep yourself cool, etc.
Amy and I were saddened by these things, but at the same time inspired to use it as an example, and to learn from it.
I'm a big guy myself, and while I do the best I can to stay in good health and such, I realized if I had a heart attack I wasn't sure Amy knew enough about our equipment to make an emergency call (channel 16) or activate our Personal Locator Beacon (if we were stranded for some reason and I was disabled), and confidence operating the boat all the way back to the dock in an emergency, etc.
So we've decided to do the following:
1. Write, print, and laminate a summarized set of instructions for the operational imperatives (radio, beacon, boat basics, etc.)
2. Ensure each time we go out, we have these instructions, and briefly go over them. (including any passengers).
3. Have a rule that nobody goes in the water without a vest, and everyone must have a buddy.
4. Going to invest in a AED. You never know when or if it will be needed, but spending $1100 to save someone's life seems like a wise decision.
Think about this the next time you're going out.
Plan ahead, and remember if you're out of shape it's YOUR responsibility to make sure you do what you can to avoid an emergency and empower your loved ones with the knowledge and tools to respond if something does happen. Don't leave them helpless...
Godspeed to the person we saw on the dock. (If anyone has an update on the outcome of that, Amy and I would appreciate knowing). At the end of it all, I suppose if you have to go, passing at Powell beats the pants off the master bathroom...
That evening, we had the pleasure of sharing dinner with Wayne and his lovely wife in Page, and overall the weekend was shaping up to be one of those defining moments in ones life that sticks with you the rest of your days.
Who knows, but we may never again have the luck we had on Saturday, catching huge Striper after huge Striper in the middle of the afternoon (very back of Navajo Canyon)?
Sunday, we got up and enjoyed the sunrise and a cup of coffee, and got back out on the lake no later than 6:00am.
We fished, and explored, and went site-seeing all day, and around noon sadly had to return to Wahweap for our trek home.
Tired, content, and grateful for a weekend that could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime to many people.
This is where the story gets a bit melancholy:
Upon returning to the ramp, and coming out the other side of the cut, we realized the entire ramp was covered by emergency vehicles. Once we got closer and tied up to the back side of the retrieval dock, we learned there was someone in cardiac arrest. The EMT's were on the launch side giving him compressions for almost 30 minutes in an effort to keep him with us.
Watching this, we were reminded of the not-too-distant past when my own Mother who (we thought) was in very good health, fit, trim, and experienced a devastating heart attack while we were boogy boarding at Stinson Beach California three years ago.
Seeing these guys trying to save his life, and his family not too far away observing helpless in total shock about the gravity of that moment...
We have no idea whether than man lived or not. It sure didn't look good when they took him away in the ambulance, but maybe??????? (We tried searching the news and couldn't find anything).
When we finally got the boat off the water and I text'd Wayne, he mentioned his wife had been monitoring the radio and a girl had drowned down by the damn so we don't know if there were two incidents or if the person we saw treated by the EMT's was related.
Regardless, in that moment the paradise we knew as Powell transformed into something else; A place where it's easy to "forget" how fragile life is.
Perhaps the moral of this story is (and I know it's obvious... but we humans have a tendency to get complacent in the absence of imminent danger or death):
1. Take care of yourself, and your loved ones on the lake. Use caution and common sense and keep your vacation from taking a terrible turn.
2. Prepare for emergencies - E.g. make sure everyone on the boat is briefed on the basic operation of the boat, how to use the radio, etc.
3. And maybe on a much larger scale: If you have health issues, make SURE you have the things you need to make the chance of an emergency as slim as you can e.g. take extra medication, ensure others are aware of your condition, be mindful of the responsibility you have to your loved ones to have a defibrillator if you have a heart problem, keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum while operating or in remote areas, drink lots of water, keep yourself cool, etc.
Amy and I were saddened by these things, but at the same time inspired to use it as an example, and to learn from it.
I'm a big guy myself, and while I do the best I can to stay in good health and such, I realized if I had a heart attack I wasn't sure Amy knew enough about our equipment to make an emergency call (channel 16) or activate our Personal Locator Beacon (if we were stranded for some reason and I was disabled), and confidence operating the boat all the way back to the dock in an emergency, etc.
So we've decided to do the following:
1. Write, print, and laminate a summarized set of instructions for the operational imperatives (radio, beacon, boat basics, etc.)
2. Ensure each time we go out, we have these instructions, and briefly go over them. (including any passengers).
3. Have a rule that nobody goes in the water without a vest, and everyone must have a buddy.
4. Going to invest in a AED. You never know when or if it will be needed, but spending $1100 to save someone's life seems like a wise decision.
Think about this the next time you're going out.
Plan ahead, and remember if you're out of shape it's YOUR responsibility to make sure you do what you can to avoid an emergency and empower your loved ones with the knowledge and tools to respond if something does happen. Don't leave them helpless...
Godspeed to the person we saw on the dock. (If anyone has an update on the outcome of that, Amy and I would appreciate knowing). At the end of it all, I suppose if you have to go, passing at Powell beats the pants off the master bathroom...
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