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TABLE MOUNTAIN SEARCH & RECOVERY: 17 DECEMBER 2001 (WSAR OP)A page was issued at 0705B requesting Field Operatives to
assist in a search for a lost person on Table Mountain. Operatives were to
respond to the Lower Cableway Station in Tafelberg Road and liaise with Kevin
Tromp, who was the search manager. D36, D42, D43 and later D15 responded. The subject of the search was one Isaac Boswell, a
17-year-old boy who went walking with a church group on the Sunday afternoon.
Isaac and two other boys separated from the main group (who were to climb
Platteklip Gorge) and began to climb the India Ravine/Rock Scramble route.
Isaac became separated. However, due to much confusion within the greater
group his absence was only noted at 18h00 on Sunday evening and confirmed later
that night. The family notified METRO who duly contacted Kevin as WSAR
duty manager. An operational base using METRO 1 and High Angle 2 was set
up in the Lower Cableway Station’s parking lot. Although sufficient DSAR
personnel were present to co-ordinate comms, and the pack set was available
on-scene, the operation was run using the METRO radio frequency. This was
at times very frustrating due to the amount of other radio traffic. Personnel from METRO, High Angle, the Western Cape Mountain
Club, Hiker’s Network and Cape Peninsula Speliological Society took part in
the rescue, which was nonetheless strictly labeled a WSAR operation. Three search teams (Aptly named Search 1, 2 and 3) of four
members each were dispatched: Search 1 and 2 from above and Search 3 from below.
Search 1 was to cover Fountain Ravine and Africa Ledge, Search 2 the Rock
Scramble, India Ravine above the waterfall and Africa Ravine. Search 3 would
cover India Ravine below the waterfall and the contour path as far as Kloof
Corner. The top teams ascended via the cable car and were on the mountain
at 0830B. Search 3 began their efforts at 0900B. As the search progressed, some possible clues were turned
up but systematically excluded. At 15h45, D43 in Search 3 discovered
Isaac’s body in Cairn Ravine, on the Camp’s Bay side of Kloof Corner (the
team was in fact off-course, but fortunately so!) Search 1 and 2 were
recalled to base. The recovery team, consisting of 8 members including D42,
departed the rescue base at 1600B equipped with the necessary stretcher, ropes
and other equipment. This team proceeded quickly to Cairn Ravine where the
body was photographed before being packaged onto the stretcher. It was
decide that the simplest method of extrication would be to descend straight down
the mountain to the pipe track above Camp’s Bay Drive. 4WD vehicles
could be brought near to this point. The stretcher was brought down in a series of
belay-assisted carries to a dry riverbed, and thence via another set of belays
to a point where it could be carried through the bush to the path. This
led to slow progress, as two parallel belay systems had to be used together to
ensure the safety of the team. The DSAR TAC 1 frequency proved valuable as
a tactical link between the stretcher team and the belayers. Ross Hofmeyr, D42 TABLE MOUNTAIN RESCUE(S): 8 DECEMBER 2001 (WSAR OP)The Metro Hi-Angle Rescue Team received
a callout at approximately 1300 hours to assist an injured hiker in Platteklip
gorge. At the time of the callout
HART was in Simonstown hosting WSAR rope rescue training.
D42 and D48 as well as members of CPSS and Johan Bender of the SAPS
volunteered to assist. The first WSAR personnel reached the
lower cableway station at approximately 1400.
Dr Wayne Smith dispatched two teams of three members from the top and
bottom of the gorge to search for the patient.
The injured woman was found halfway down the gorge with a severely
sprained or broken ankle. It was
ascertained that a stretcher carryout had to be performed. A stretcher party of some 16 members
ascended the mountain by means of the cableway and walked down to the patient,
reaching her at approximately 1540 hours. Dr
Smith - assisted by D39 - remained below to coordinate the rescue.
The patient, weighing approximately 80 kg, was packaged on A Troll Alpine
stretcher. By rotating
stretcher-bearers we were able to reach Tafelberg Road by 1715 hours, despite
the steep and rocky terrain. The patient was conveyed by Metro 1 to
Somerset Hospital. All DSAR and
other WSAR personnel stood down at 1750 hours. (Organisations represented: HART 6; Metro 4; CPSS 4; DSAR 3 [D39, D42, D48]; SAPS 1) (18 WSAR in total) D42,
Ross Hofmeyr BOBBEJAANSKLOOF RESCUE: 20 OCTOBER 2001(WSAR OP)At 2054B a group page was issued to DSAR
members to respond to a rescue situation in the Hottentots Holland Mountains.
D15 (Roy) was coordinating the DSAR response from Zero 2.
The staging area was set at the Somerset West police station; from there
we would proceed at 2145B. At the police station 4x4 operatives D78
(Trevor) and D50 (Patrick) met field operatives D48 (Gavin), D42 (Ross) and D13
(Dylan), as well as three representatives of the Hottentots Holland section of
the Mountain Club of South Africa (HH-MCSA).
The available equipment and personnel were loaded into the vehicles of
D78 and D50. En-route to Nuweberg we were fed further
information by D15 – a member of a hiking party with previous cardiac surgery
was incapacitated on a section of the Boland Trail near the Boesmanskloof Hut.
A Skymed paramedic was with the patient but lacked suitable resources to
perform an extraction. He had been dropped off by the Skymed chopper before dark and
had no communications. In Grabouw
we were met by a paramedic response vehicle and a METRO rescue vehicle and at
Nuweberg by representatives of Cape Nature Conservation (CNC).
This cavalcade then drove down the pass and by farm roads to an access
track which leads to the Boesmanskloof Hut.
We reached the hut at approximately 2315B. D13, D48 and myself quickly kitted up
while D50 and D78 attempted to reposition their vehicles in order to achieve
reliable communications with Zero 2. This
proved to be a problem, although the comms were functional at most times.
The field operatives switched to TAC1, using D50 as a contact.
He then managed message traffic going to and from D78, who liaised with
Zero 2 and other organizations present. We were soon informed that a police
helicopter was flying in to the hut, bringing Dougie Hey of the Hi-Angle Rescue
Team (HART) and Johan Bender of SAPS. The
chopper would attempt to fly in an evacuation team.
Within 5 minutes the chopper arrived, landing in the field below the hut
with the assistance of D50’s vehicle lights.
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that the chopper was not equipped
with a winch. To confound this problem, the pilot was not willing to fly into
the gorge in the dark. We would
have to walk. Without wasting further time, a large
party set off up the kloof – the 3 DSAR field operatives, 3 HH-MCSA, 1 HART, 1
SAPS, 4 CNC and 3 METRO. This party
would have to carry the patient on the Troll Alpine folding stretcher brought by
Dougie Hey. The pace was brisk,
soon leaving the majority of the METRO and CNC personnel behind under the
watchful eye of D13. Comms on TAC1
to D50/D78 remained flawless throughout the operation. At 0006B we reached the patient, who was
accompanied by Gary the Skymed paramedic and a member of the original hiking
party who was a medical doctor. The
patient was lying in the narrow path, warmed by a sleeping bag.
His condition was stable but he was very weak.
As soon as the METRO personnel arrived they re-checked his condition,
performed an ECG and then gave the go-ahead for his transportation.
His position (34°00’43”S
19°05’18”E,
elevation approx. 483m) was some 3,2 km from the hut, along a steep, narrow,
rugged path. Indeed, in most places
the path was narrower than the stretcher. Rocky
steps, overhanging bushes, small streams, and the darkness were all complicating
factors, confounded by the 130 kg weight of the patient.
The decision was made to put in a request for a helicopter extraction.
Initially this request was turned down by the SAAF, but tenacious arm
bending by D15 at Zero 2 and Leon at Metro Control eventually got a go-ahead.
As the chopper ETA was only 0240B we undertook to move the patient to a
better location for winching. Carrying the patient required 8 to 10
persons – one or two each at the front and back and three on each side.
As the path was very narrow one side team was constantly scrambling on
the uphill bank of the path and the other team sliding down the steep slope
below. It took over an hour and
three exchanges of teams to move the patient 200m to a level section of the
path. D48 deemed this as a good
location for the extraction. The
CNC and METRO personnel departed, and we settled in to wait for the Oryx.
In this pause it became apparent that many of the people on-scene were
lacking in equipment – most had insufficient warm clothing for the
fast-dropping temperatures, Gary had no torch save a laryngoscope handle, HART
had no rope or karabiners to accompany the stretcher, and none but DSAR
operatives were equipped to overnight on the mountain if necessary.
These issues will need to be addressed in future, but luckily caused no
major upsets on this rescue. We were instructed to communicate with
the Oryx on Marine Channel Zero, which I began to monitor ceaselessly.
At approximately 0230 we heard the helicopter approaching, and a broken
call came over the radio. Although
I responded immediately and called repeatedly on the channel we got no further
reply. The Oryx was visible through the light cloud cover above us
but it could not see our lights. We
tried to communicate on all available frequencies but no response was
forthcoming. Eventually, via Zero
2, a message was passed to fly lower and pass up the valley.
This they duly did, and by means of a hand-held flare we were able to
indicate our location. Once the
Oryx was overhead no lights were necessary – it’s floodlights lit the steep
mountainside for hundreds of meters around. The winching process went off smoothly – most likely due to recent chopper training! The paramedic, followed by the patient using a back rope technique was winched up. Dougie Hey, Johan Bender and the patient’s companion ascended using a strop, as none had brought harnesses. The remaining DSAR and HH-MCSA personnel opted to walk out as the chopper was flying direct to Panorama Cardiac Unit. We walked down to the hut, collected all remaining equipment and returned to Somerset West. D15, D48 and D42 had an informal debrief to discuss the operation. We stood down at 0515B. D42, Ross Hofmeyr PIETERSFONTEIN, MONTAGUE RESCUE: 26 AUGUST 2001" I received a call at 10:05 B from Sargent Soldaat of the Montague Police Station. He requested our help with a person who had fallen in the mountains. The location was the area of Pietersfontein, on the farm Groot Land, outside Montague on the Northern side.I immediately phoned Dirk De Koker of the Robertson Ambulance service and he told me that he was on official standby for Robertson and would not be able to respond to the call. At 10:10 B I phoned John Davids of the Worcester Ambulance service. He said that he would go to the base and would organise a team to respond and would also inform METRO Cape Town, Wilderness Search and Rescue. On route to the scene, I stopped at the Montague Police Station to pick up a spare Police VHF Radio to use in the Koo, as cell phone and other radio comms are non-existent. I arrived on the scene at 10:40 B. The scenario was that one of the farmers had gone to pick flowers late on Saturday afternoon and had not returned. On Sunday morning the farm workers were sent out to search the area the missing person often frequented and had found his body at 08:00 B. On surveying the area for the body evacuation, I decided that a chopper evacuation would be the quickest and safest way to carry out this operation. Chopper requested at 10:50 B. At 11:20 B when the chopper request was denied, I requested that the team be sent from Worcester to do a walk-out recovery. The team from Worcester arrived at 12:00 B. John Davids took charge of the team and set off to carry out the task. The Patient was recovered at 13:30 B. Death was established as an accident, determined by the SAPS on the scene. Patient lowered to a safer ledge at 14:40 B and the team was back on the path at 15:00 to continue the decent. On the way down, Fadeel Ebrahim slipped and had a suspected broken right Ulna. At 15:30 B the body was handed over to the SAPS. The patients name was Mr Louis Nel Fourie aged 55 years. The investigating Officer was Inspector. Cockrell of the Montague Police. The rescue team was D De Koker, D Kander, A Rossouw, J Davids, F Ebrahim, H Steenkamp, M Thops and G Macmillan. Our thanks go out to these persons and all other persons whose help was used to complete the task. Our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased. All teams were stood down at 15:40 B. Report by:- TABLE MOUNTAIN SEARCH: 05 AUGUST 2001 (WSAR OP)A group page was issued at 0900B
requesting assistance in a search for a missing person on Table Mountain.
D15 (Roy) was already in attendance at the scene.
Members of Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) were in the process of
searching the front face and back table. D33
(Christoph), D36 (Melina), D42 (Ross) and D43 (Tom) responded to the page. On arrival at the lower cable station,
DSAR personnel reported to the Incident Command Post in Metro 4.
Kevin Tromp of the Hi-Angle Rescue Team (HART) was in control of the
incident assisted by Delta 15. As
sufficient search teams were already deployed, for the interim we remained at
the operational base as reserve personnel. The subject of the search was a Mr.
Christopher Cornelius. He was last
seen on Sunday 29 July by his girlfriend. He
had indicated that he wished to go walking on the mountain, and she had
suggested he walk from lower cableway station. It is possible that he walked from his home in Oranjezicht.
Mr. Cornelius was described as a 22-year-old Caucasian male, short and
stocky in build. Employed as a
hairdresser in the city, he was described as a reliable, diligent man, who
always called in if sick. His route, clothing, and the timescale of his
disappearance were unknown. Metro
Control and thereby WSAR were only informed of his disappearance late on the
evening of Saturday 04 August. As there were no personnel tasked to
search the slopes of the mountain below Tafelberg Road, D33, D36 and D43
volunteered to search this area. D42
remained at the incident command post to assist in managing comms and
maintaining a communications log. In
total 13 CPSS, 10 MCSA, 5 DSAR, 3 HART, 2 4x4, and 4 METRO personnel were
involved in the search. Although at
one stage one search team detected a suspicious odour, and the SkyMed helicopter
was called in to assist searching ledges on the front face, the search was
discontinued at dusk with negative results.
All personnel stood down before dark. PostScript 1: Quoted
article from the Cape Argus of Thursday 15 November 2001: “Skeleton found near cableway ” “Police are trying to identify a skeleton found on Table
Mountain yesterday. The skeleton,
dressed in tattered clothes, was found in the gorge just below the upper cable
station by a hiker, who alerted cable station staff.
Dr Cleeve Robertson of the Wilderness Search and Rescue unit and police
started searching the gorge just after noon yesterday, using sniffer dogs.
‘We found the skeleton at 2PM and were thinking of using a helicopter
to get the bones down but they were so light we decided to carry them down
ourselves.’ A watch and shoes were found on the scene. Police spokesman
Captain Andre Traut said they had not ruled out the possibility that the remains
were those of 22-year-old Cape Town hairdresser Christian Cornelius who went
missing on Table Mountain on August 8. He
said an inquest and a post-mortem would be carried out to determine the cause
and time of death. The skeleton was
at Salt River Mortuary.” PostScript 2: The
individual’s watch was later identified as that of Mr. Cornelius, closing the
book on one more unfortunate incident on what is an underestimated mountain. D42, Ross Hofmeyr
BODY RECOVERY, JONKERSHOEK:
29 JULY 2001
|
 | Lack of a proper chain of command |
| Use of cell phones |
| Comms net was not established from the start of multi-disciplinary action (DSAR was called in too late to enforce a comms net) |
| No media liaison was assigned |
| Lack of maps |
The evacuation of the public during the night was essential, leaving their homes open to theft. To this purpose the SANDF was called in to patrol. Clearly the disaster plan for the area needs to be revised so that major fires of this kind can be handled by SOPs, which would not allow things to get out of hand.
The fire was brought under control at around 0400B, after seriously threatening many homes. DSAR personnel stood down at this time to allow some time for sleep and recuperation in the event that we were needed later on Friday. Helderberg Fire extended their gratitude for our assistance.
Ross Hofmeyer, D42
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