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2004

A selection of 2004 incidents for which we have received reports:

  op
bulletCHILD ON LEDGE, HERMANUS: 26 DECEMBER 2004
bulletANDREW HILLS, STEENBRASS: 21 DECEMBER 2004
bulletATLANTIS SEARCH: 19 DECEMBER 2004
bulletMISSING 10 IN SUICIDE: 5/6 DECEMBER 2004
bulletJONKERSHOEK OVERDUE: 9 NOVEMBER 2004
bulletKOGELBERG DAM SEARCH: 7 OCTOBER 2004
bullet15 RESCUED RIVIERSONDEREND FLOOD: 14 AUGUST 2004
bulletTABLE VIEW RECOVERY: 15 AUGUST 2004
bulletMISSING FROM JONKERSHOEK: 28 JULY 2004
bulletTULBAGH BRITISH HIKER: 10 JULY 2004
bulletFRANSCHHOEK PASS MVA: 14 JUNE 2004
bulletGRABOUW SEARCH: 22 MAY 2004
bulletTM WALKOUT: 14 MAY 2004
bulletTWO MISSING WOMAN ON TM: 13 MAY 2004
bulletTAXI DRIVER RESCUE: 10 MAY 2004
bulletBRANDVLEI DAM 4X4 RECOVERY: 14 APRIL 2004
bulletJONKERSHOEK INJURY: 6 MARCH 2004
bulletKALKBAY MOUNTAIN INJURY: 2 MARCH 2004
bulletSTEENBRASS DROWNING: 15 FEBRUARY 2004
bulletHELDERBERG INJURY: 7 FEBRUARY 2004
bulletRIVIERSONDEREND OVERDUE: 31 JANUARY 2004
bulletHANGKLIP FALL: 25 JANUARY 2004
bulletSTRAND BEACH SURF CALLOUT: 25 JANUARY 2004
bulletCRYSTAL POOL JUMPER: 24 JANUARY 2004
bulletSUICIDE BACK INJURY: 24 JANUARY 2004
bulletMELKBOS RUNAWAY: 17 JANUARY 2004
bulletJONKERSHOEK MTB SEARCH: 11/12 JANUARY 2004
bulletHELDERBERG NIGHT SEARCH: 7 JANUARY 2004

 

TABLE VIEW RECOVERY

Date

15th August 2004

Location

Diep River (adjacent to Gie Road); Table View

Time: Call Out

Stand Down

09h50B

14h00B

DSAR Manager

D42

Ross Hofmeyer

WSAR Manager

N/A

DSAR Operatives

D22


D46


D53

Denis Hayward

Christine Lombard

Peter Grobler

Description

Delta was contacted directly by James….  (who had previous experience with DSAR on the 2004 Cape Epic) for assistance with his vehicle which had become bogged down while crossing a river at the rear of Killarney race track. D53 (en route to Landdroskop) and D22 responded with D42/D46 close behind. We met James in Gie Road and were taken to the place where the vehicle was bogged down in the river.  The vehicle (Land Rover D101 Forward Control) was about 80m from the shore in water approximately 1½m although there was a firm and grassed sandbank some 40m from the vehicle. It was decided that the vehicle would need to be winched out due to a lack of space for a tow and D53 proceeded to the sandbank. This involved crossing part of the river approximately ¾m deep. From this point it was possible to hitch the vehicle using the winch cable form D53’s vehicle, a length of chain and a towrope. The stuck vehicle was then extracted with some difficulty due to the fact that a straight winch was not possible. D53’s vehicle need to be repositioned a number of times and a combination of winching and towing was used. Once on the sandbank, the recovered vehicle was turned round and towed through the river back to the asphalt road.

 

In the mean time a person had approached the DSAR team to say that he had a stuck beach buggy. D22 left to render assistance but discovered that it was not possible to extract the vehicle without a winch. D53 returned and the vehicle was quickly winched out of the ditch.

 

Both vehicle owners were requested to make donations to DSAR.

Key Learnings

1.   In vehicle recovery situations two 4x4’s should respond. The benefit is:

a.   Backup in case the one vehicle also gets stuck.

b.   Assistance in setting up the recovery

c.   One operative can act as Safety Officer (this is an important role and one person should be delegated - SOP should be drafted for this due to dangers associated with recoveries)

d.   Security backup (watch kit with bystanders etc). Also potential of hijacks for remote recoveries.

e.   Radio comms and remote direction of the extraction.

2.   An additional length of chain with grab hooks and shackles would be useful since stuck vehicles are often not properly equipped

Report Prepared by: D53 Peter Grobler

Date: 15th August 2004

 

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TM WALKOUT: 14 MAY 2004

Call out: Direct from Steve to my cell at 20h39. Got message at 20h48

Note: When I got the message from Steve, there were enough personal available. Nobody from Delta was required at that moment.

Area: Call out to Table Mountain. 3 person at top cable station. 

Weather: Not to cold. Paths wet. A warm land breeze. Some spots cold.

Report:All personal on call out met at the reserve gate at Constantia Neck. We were 12 person including Steve & Muis. Three vehicles went up with all the personal to the top rangers hut. A team of 8 rescuers set out to top cable station. I was elected to be team leader! Route was from rangers hut through echo valley to the top station. After 30 minutes, the ambient temperature got colder. A hasty team of 3 Mountain Club members were split off with a lot of warm clothing and shelters. It took us just over 1h15 minutes to get to top station.

All patients found in good spirits but cold. One person had a bit of cramps. Another a sore knee. All able to walk! After a good rest and planning, we brought them back to rangers hut.

We were finished with walkout at 03h00 on Saturday morning.

Comments: Thanks to everybody for a job well done. We had 3 radios in the group. That is why we could send a hasty team.

Dirk Kruger, D35

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TWO MISSING WOMAN ON TM: 13 MAY 2004

Call out: From ZERO 2 at 21h21

Area: Callout to Table Mountain. 2 woman missing on eastern side of Table Mountain. Possible Skeleton gorge area.

Weather: Not to cold. Paths wet and cold. A warm land breeze.

Report: All personal on call out met at the reserve gate at Constantia Neck. We were 12 person: 4 hikers network, 5 Mountain Club, 1 Delta, Steve & Muis.

Four vehicles went up with all the personal to the top rangers hut. We were split into 3 teams: hikers 1(4 person), mountain 6 (3 person), team D35 (3 person). Team D35 had to do the route from the ranger's hut via echo valley to Maclears Beacon. Hikers 1 took the route to the top of Skeleton Gorge and then to Maclears Beacon, and then met up with D35. Mountain 6 went the southern route to Skeleton Gorge. Comms got difficult after a hour. I asked  ZERO 2 to monitor the WSAR channel and to relay all messages to Steve on TAC 2. It helped a lot. We were then re-routed to Skeleton Gorge and on to Nursery ravine after new info was supplied from the lost party. They went down a wooden ladder and past a few waterfalls. Skelton and Nursery both had the same features. 

Soon the lost party was found in Skeleton Gorge, just before we started going down into Nursery ravine. Lost party, mountain 6 and hikers 1 went down Skeleton Gorge. We walked back to the rangers hut. All that was left to do was to transport everybody home. We were finished with the rescue at 02h00 on Friday morning.

Comments: Everybody did an excellent job. Thanks to ZERO 2 for the relay work. It would be a asset if Metro 1 could have the Delta channels.

Dirk Kruger, D35

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TAXI DRIVER RESCUE: 10 MAY 2004

Date

10th May 2004

Location

Table Mountain (Lower cable station)

Time: Call Out

Stand Down

15h28B

18h15B

DSAR Manager

D42

Ross Hofmeyr

WSAR Manager

Anwaaz Bent

DSAR Operatives

D52


D53

Martin Bűttner

Peter Grobler

Description of Rescue:

A young lady, Lindy (tourist from the USA) had climbed the path behind the lower cable station to the upper contour path where she had proceeded eastwards. At around Africa buttress she attempted to climb a steep rock face above the contour path and fell, severely gashing her left leg. She summoned help and Clive (the taxi driver who dropped her at the cable station) responded. He then set the rescue in motion by calling WSAR who then contacted D15 requesting assistance for a carry out. Zero 2 sent out a page and D42, D52, D53 were instructed to proceed to the lower cable station. At this point in time no more information regarding the incident was known.

 The Delta team arrived at ±16h10B and were instructed to proceed to the incident site with full field kit by Anwaaz. Stretchers were also carried. The walk up took roughly 20 minutes. Upon arrival it was found the victim and helper were on a ledge roughly 15m above the contour path. An advance team from MCSA (including a doctor Bryent) had already stabilized the victim. On the ledge, D42 was then asked to take command. Six of the party were tasked with setting ropes to allow the victim and helper to be lowered down to the contour path. After some difficulty with locating rock anchors, slings etc the rigging was complete and the victim lowered to the contour path level. The doctor was of the opinion that the victim could walk (assisted) down to the lower cable station and an advance party set out with two members partly carrying the victim. The balance of the party cleaned and packed the equipment used before proceeding down the mountain. 

The carry out was successful and all parties arrived at the lower cable station at ±18h00B at which case the victim was handed over to the ambulance service and those involved in the rescue were debriefed by Anwaaz Bent

Key Learnings:

ð      Insufficient technical rescue gear, particularly cams, chocks, etc, was available and members were forced to use personal equipment. This meant that anchors could not be set with the desired degree of safety.

ð      Organizational roles were not sufficiently clarified during the rescue.

ð      Call signs were allocated haphazardly.

ð      The rescuers should be better briefed during the call out so that they know what to expect and can ensure that appropriate equipment is available.

Report Prepared by: D53 Peter Grobler

Date: 11th May 2004

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BRANDVLEI DAM 4X4 RECOVERY: 14 APRIL 2004

On the 14th April 2004 I was preparing to start the Tierkloof 4x4 route in my own time, when I was approached by a man who had managed to get his Mitsubishi LDV completely stuck in mud at the Brandvlei dam across the road. He had no recovery gear whatsoever and was by himself. I proceeded down to the vehicle which was completely stuck at the waters edge. There was a broad strip (±500m) of soft sand between the vehicle and the road. After accessing the situation I decided to snatch the vehicle out of the mud since:

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Winching was not an option since I could not get my vehicle into a suitable position without possibly getting stuck myself and could not set a snatch block to winch the vehicle to firm ground.

bullet

There was a rocky area some 5m from the stuck vehicle where I could easily pull the vehicle onto with a single snatch.

bullet

I could get close enough to set the snatch strap while still staying on firm ground.

The stuck vehicle had no recovery points, and so attaching the snatch strap was a bit problematic and I was reluctantly forced to use the tow bar (not the tow hitch). I used a chain to attach the snatch strap to my Land Rover.  

Once the recovery gear had been set it was a simple matter to pull the Colt LDV free and onto the firmer sand. I then directed the driver where to drive to get to the road so as not to get stuck again. After a brief thanks he left in something of a hurry!

 

Peter Grobler D53

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STRAND BEACH SURF CALLOUT: 25 JANUARY 2004

Brief summary of callout at Strand Beach: 

At around 16h00 4 people got into difficulty off Strand beach in the vicinity of the "pipe". They were apparently caught up in the rip tide. Strand Surf Lifesaving deployed 2 guards on malibu boards as well as an addition swimmer. When the people were reached, it was determined that a 4th person was still missing and additional assistance was required. Strand Surf then called the Nokia Surf Rescue chopper, NSRI and Metro for assistance. 

I got a call from NSRI and about 16h10. They required personnel on scene to co-ordinate with various organizations and to assist with a possible search for the 4th person. I said that Dirk Kruger, D35 was about 5 min away and should respond first. I called him and responded him , but let ZERO 2 know as well. A few minutes later the 4th person was recovered and medics, along with D35 commenced CPR. I arrived some 10 min later and assisted the  ambulance crew to stabilize patients. All 4 patients were transferred to ambulances and then taken to hospital. No knowledge as to what their physical conditions were. e.g. Code yellow. NSRI dispatched both rescue craft but they were not required in the search in the end.   

Is not clear if Skymed 2 was alerted or not. 

Dirk handled the situation very well as did NSRI, Metro etc. 

Stood down at 17h09.

 Dylan, D13

On Sunday 25 January 2004 at approx 15h45, I was contacted by Dylan (D13) to go and help with 4 persons who were in trouble off Stand Beach. That was for comms between the shore & the NSRI Rescue boats. On arrival I found 4 persons recovered from the sea. 2 persons were in good condition, 1 requiring help & Oxygen. The 4th person was unconcios and was being resusitated by medical personell and lifegaurds. First job was to let NSRI know to stand down & then report back to ZERO 2. The Netcare 911 medics had there hands full. I organised extra help and equipment via ZERO 2. Then it was my turn to help with chess compressions.

An air tube and bag were all ready in place. After 5 minutes, which felt like forever, and some adrenalin intravenous, we got a good hardbeat. Pupils were still unresponsive. It was then decided that the patient was stable enough to be transported to Mediclinic. This took more than 30 minutes from when the rescuers got the patient out to being transported. It still gives me goose bumps to think that we got here back. Thanks to all medical personal and the lifesvers who helped!

Dirk Kruger, D35

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