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Rangers tackle training on ropes, more rescues

A forest ranger moves a litter on a high-angle guiding line deflection system during training last week in the Adirondacks. (Provided photo — DEC)

Forest rangers with the state Department of Environmental Conservation responded to two rescue missions in the Adirondacks this past week, plus took part in a technical rope rescue course.

Technical rope training

From June 6 to 11, 17 forest rangers from across the state attended a 40-hour technical rope technician training session in the towns of Keene and North Hudson. Led by instructor-level Forest Rangers, the training is the Division of Forest Protection’s highest level of technical rope training. Forest Rangers conduct dozens of technical rescues a year. This training provides Rangers with the skills required to safely lead these rescue operations.

Technicians also serve as instructors to other Rangers statewide. Forest Rangers are accredited members of the Mountain Rescue Association.

Broken ankle

On June 11 at 10:23 a.m., DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch received a call from Garmin Inreach Services reporting a 50-year-old woman from Vernon, New Jersey, with a broken ankle on the Olmstead Pond trail in the Five Ponds Wilderness, in the St. Lawrence County town of Clifton.

Three forest rangers and two assistant forest rangers responded, along with the Cranberry Lake and Star Lake rescue squads.

Once on scene, rescuers splinted the hiker’s leg, and she was carried out to a waiting rescue boat. The hiker was then transported across Cranberry Lake, where an ambulance brought her to a local hospital for additional medical care.

Insect bite reaction

On June 13 at 4:21 p.m., DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch received a call reporting that a woman at a tent site in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, in the town of Schroon, was experiencing difficulty breathing, hives and dizziness after an insect bite.

Forest Rangers Marie Arnold and Evan Donegan responded, and at 6:30 p.m., Arnold advised that they made contact with the woman, who started walking out with her father.

The 34-year-old woman from Utica began to improve after a passing hiker gave her Benadryl.

The rangers escorted them the remainder of the distance back to the trailhead via a six-wheeler. At 7:40 p.m., the hiker was back out to the trailhead and said she would seek further medical assistance on her own.

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