Botched rescue results in fatality

[akflightmedic]

Southern Vermont

No charges in botched rescue

February 28, 2007

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

NEWPORT, N.H. — No criminal charges will be filed in connection with the failed rescue of an elderly Vermont woman, who drowned last summer in the Connecticut River when the airboat she was strapped into sank.

Marc Hathaway, the Sullivan County attorney, said Tuesday that the mistakes by the rescue crew and the driver of the Cornish Rescue Squad's new airboat did not rise to the level of negligent homicide in the death of Virginia Yates, 64, of Rockingham.

Hathaway said that while many mistakes were made in the Aug. 22 rescue attempt, none by themselves caused the death of Yates, a retired cook.

"The risk became apparent only after the craft was under way," he said. "They fully expected the trip to be made safely. Their behavior does not rise to the level of criminal conduct."

Yates drowned when the airboat sank about a half mile from Hoyt's Landing, a public boat access on the Vermont side of the river. She was strapped onto a backboard and rescue litter, which in turn was strapped to the boat.

Yates, who had been out on the river with a friend earlier in the day, had twisted her ankle and fallen when they stopped at a private dock in Springfield so Yates could go to the bathroom.

At an afternoon press conference in the Sullivan County Courthouse in Newport, Hathaway said the four rescue workers, including EMT George Wheeler of the Springfield, Vt., Fire Department — only had seconds to respond.

The boat was swamped almost immediately after it left shore on its way back to Hoyt's Landing and a waiting ambulance.

According to the report, Robert Drye of Cornish, the president of the Cornish Rescue Squad, was operating the boat when it sank. On board were two other Cornish rescue squad members, Gary Chilton and Larry Dingee, along with Wheeler. Hathaway said the investigation focused on Drye's actions.

Hathaway listed seven contributing factors that led to the tragedy, including the fact that the Cornish Rescue Squad, an independent, nonprofit volunteer group, had inadequate training on the boat, which it had owned for less than two months. The boat had only 17.9 hours use registered on its engine, according to the report.

Hathaway's report noted that the boat's crew was unfamiliar with the weight limitations of the boat, and the dimensions of the boat itself, and that there was a lack of standard operating procedures and protocols governing the boat rescues.

The report also noted that a passing ski boat set off a one-foot wake that helped to swamp the already overloaded boat, whose bow was dangerously close to the waterline.

Hathaway said Drye tried to steer the boat into the wake, but the wake pushed even more water into the airboat, and it flipped over and sank.

The county attorney's report said state law concerning boat overloading under such circumstances was "ambiguous in the context of criminal negligence" and there were no state standards regulating airboats.

Wheeler, who had treated Yates on shore for her injuries before she was loaded onto the boat, joined the three Cornish members on their boat at the last minute at their invitation. The added weight of Yates, who weighed about 150 pounds, and Wheeler, who weighed about 245 pounds, further compromised the boat's carrying capacity, the report noted.

Wheeler told investigators that when water quickly started coming over the bow of the boat, both he and the other Cornish squad members leaned forward in an attempt to keep Yates dry, which ultimately made the problem worse.

Wheeler said he tried to undo the straps that tied Yates to the sinking boat, but was unable to get the straps untied after the boat sank and he had to surface for air. Yates was not wearing a life vest, and the Stokes litter did not have any flotation devices either, the report stated.

Wheeler said he tried to find the air bubbles coming up from the oxygen that Yates was on and dive back down to rescue her, but the current carried him away and he couldn't swim well with his duty boots and clothing on.

Drye told investigators he was trying to get Dingee to move toward the back of the boat in one of the passenger seats to redistribute the weight in the boat shortly before they were swamped.

Hathaway's 283-page report included interviews with people directly involved in the rescue, witnesses on the river and friends of Yates on the dock, and the manufacturer of the boat, the Maine Yankee Airboat Co. of Sebago, Maine. The New Hampshire investigation also included two re-enactments of the accident on Lake Winnipesaukee using the Cornish airboat.

Hathaway said the re-enactments helped clarify to him what had happened. He said his report was long in coming because the final reports didn't reach his office until January, and then his report had to be written and organized.

The boat company's president, Harold Williams, told the New Hampshire investigators that he had initially warned Cornish Rescue Squad members that the boat they wanted was too small for rescue work because of all the equipment and people they would bring on any rescue, and he urged them to use a bigger boat. He also claimed he told them to only use the boat in shallow waters.

Williams also told investigators he told Cornish officials that the boat's top capacity was four people.

Hathaway said the airboat would be returned to the Cornish Rescue Squad, and it was up to the squad how the boat would be used in the future.

According to Capt. Mark Gallagher of the N.H. Marine Patrol, who was at the press conference, the N.H. Fish and Game Department has a similar airboat, but he said he did not know whether it had ever been used in a rescue.

Hathaway said he had talked to the Yates family privately last week and given them copies of the report; he too asked the media not to contact either the members of the Cornish Rescue Squad or the Yates family.

Hathaway said the N.H. Department of Safety was conducting its own investigation.

Robert Morgan of Brownsville, Vt., who works for the Concord, N.H., law firm of Tarbell Professional Association, is representing Yates' estate. He listened quietly in the back of the small conference room and later spoke to some reporters.

Morgan said it was too early to say what Yates' surviving family would do and whether they would pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the people involved in the accident.

Morgan said Yates' three surviving children had been devastated by their mother's death and the attention her tragic death had brought to them, and he said none of them wanted to speak to the media about their mother's death or the report.

"The report is long. A lot of the material is painful," Morgan said. "We have to take our time to understand what's in there. It truly is very sad."

Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com.

[vs-eh?]

Southern Vermont

No charges in botched rescue

February 28, 2007

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

NEWPORT, N.H. — No criminal charges will be filed in connection with the failed rescue of an elderly Vermont woman, who drowned last summer in the Connecticut River when the airboat she was strapped into sank.

Marc Hathaway, the Sullivan County attorney, said Tuesday that the mistakes by the rescue crew and the driver of the Cornish Rescue Squad's new airboat did not rise to the level of negligent homicide in the death of Virginia Yates, 64, of Rockingham.

Hathaway said that while many mistakes were made in the Aug. 22 rescue attempt, none by themselves caused the death of Yates, a retired cook.

"The risk became apparent only after the craft was under way," he said. "They fully expected the trip to be made safely. Their behavior does not rise to the level of criminal conduct."

Yates drowned when the airboat sank about a half mile from Hoyt's Landing, a public boat access on the Vermont side of the river. She was strapped onto a backboard and rescue litter, which in turn was strapped to the boat.

Yates, who had been out on the river with a friend earlier in the day, had twisted her ankle and fallen when they stopped at a private dock in Springfield so Yates could go to the bathroom.

I didn't read the entire article...

1) What the hell is an airboat?

2) Why is a person who appears to have simply "twisted her ankle" being boarded (it appears this is simply a fall from standing) and afforded these ridiculous measures?

Get some education people and use your head! Sounds like some idiot crew had a new toy...

Ridiculous...

[akflightmedic]

Airboat....think Miami Vice, flat boat with big fan behind you as you race through the Everglades

I am glad you caught that about the ankle. There are several points about this article I did not mention as I wish to see what others say about it. The ankle was one of them (Backboarded and on O2).

[BushyFromOz]

She was strapped onto a backboard and rescue litter, which in turn was strapped to the boat.

Idiots

Yates, who had been out on the river with a friend earlier in the day, had twisted her ankle and fallen when they stopped at a private dock in Springfield so Yates could go to the bathroom.

nonprofit volunteer group, had inadequate training on the boat, which it had owned for less than two months.

Negligence

Hathaway's report noted that the boat's crew was unfamiliar with the weight limitations of the boat, and the dimensions of the boat itself, and that there was a lack of standard operating procedures and protocols governing the boat rescues.

Negligence and just plain dangerous

The report also noted that a passing ski boat set off a one-foot wake that helped to swamp the already overloaded boat, whose bow was dangerously close to the waterline.

Obviously these people have no common sense

Wheeler told investigators that when water quickly started coming over the bow of the boat, both he and the other Cornish squad members leaned forward in an attempt to keep Yates dry, which ultimately made the problem worse.

What was that about common sense?

:shock:

Yates was not wearing a life vest, and the Stokes litter did not have any flotation devices either, the report stated.

Negligence

The boat company's president, Harold Williams, told the New Hampshire investigators that he had initially warned Cornish Rescue Squad members that the boat they wanted was too small for rescue work because of all the equipment and people they would bring on any rescue, and he urged them to use a bigger boat.

I bet he did, and the fact that his advice was supposedly ignored is rediculous

Williams also told investigators he told Cornish officials that the boat's top capacity was four people.

See above

Morgan said it was too early to say what Yates' surviving family would do and whether they would pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the people involved in the accident.

They should

WHY DO PEOPLE LACK COMMON SENSE??

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[vs-eh?]

Airboat....think Miami Vice, flat boat with big fan behind you as you race through the Everglades

Cool, is Englishman Jonathan Quayle Higgins III there too?

Wicked...

:shock:

Gah...that's Magnum, P.I.

Ok...Vice with with Don Johnson right? Meh, pass...

If I ever roll over on my ankle on the street in the US, don't bother boarding me. And save the O2...

The airboat on the other hand...[stream:d8a8830aa4]http://www.barbneal.com/wav/tvthemes/magnumpi.wav[/stream:d8a8830aa4]

[Yummymedic05]

Forget the O2 and backboard....ummm...why did she need an "ambulance" rescue for a twisted ankle? Sheesh the crap ppl call ems for.....

[Chief1C]

Why did she need a backboard for a twisted ankle..?

And where the hell was her means of flotation? The report that I googled said that she had no flotation device. So, even if they did unstrap her, she still may have drown. I'd like to see this "rescue litter". If it's on water, it should at least be a rescue basket with flotation tubes on the sides and head end (to make the foot end sink, and keep the head end above water).

One could read into this that it may have been the first time it was used for this type of rescue (in view of the public). Perhaps showing off, inviting extra crews to board. Wearing duty boots and clothing..? I hope that doesn't mean structural fire boots, and god forbid turnout gear. Most (smart) TOG manufacturers will put right in the booklet, TOG is NOT meant for any type of operations involving rescue from water. Even standing in an area where flash flooding, or high water is in progress. May as well put on some lead boots. Were any of them wearing water rescue gear, or even trained for it? I KNOW IT WASN'T A WATER RESCUE.. BUT.. They were on a boat.. in the water.. They should be dressed for water rescue. EVERYONE ON BOARD.

This just needs a big WTF stamp. Botched my ass.. They are fucking stupid. They weren't rescuing anyone, they were playing. The OIC or whom ever was in charge of this "operation" should have his ass thrown in jail for blatant negligence and endangerment of every soul on board and of those who had the job of further rescue and recovery.

Most air boats are not meant for fast currents, ex: rivers.. They are great on ice, anywhere.. Swamps.. Lakes.

[DwayneEMTP]

They weren't rescuing anyone, they were playing.

=D>

Dwayne

[BushyFromOz]

This just needs a big WTF stamp. Botched my ass.. They are fucking stupid. They weren't rescuing anyone, they were playing. The OIC or whom ever was in charge of this "operation" should have his ass thrown in jail for blatant negligence and endangerment of every soul on board and of those who had the job of further rescue and recovery.

Nice! =D> :D/ :thumbright: :thumbleft:

[ERDoc]

Here is a link to a site that has multiple stories from different sources around the time of the death. What a horrible way to go. All I am left thinking is WTF??? Did they actually put the entire strecher on the boat?

http://www.lifesaving.com/news/show_articl...=news&id=72