http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/cab11-0219.asp
Press Release: | Search and Rescue / Lost Hiker | ||
Agency: | Cabazon Station | ||
Station Area: | Cabazon | ||
Written Date: | 02/20/11 | Time: | 8:00 AM |
Incident Date: | 02/19/11 | Time: | 8:10 PM |
Incident Location: | Mount San Jacinto Wilderness, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway | ||
Reporting Officer: | Lieutenant Ruben Navarro | ||
File Number(s): | B110500025 | ||
Update: | Rescued: 02/21/11 | ||
Update:
The Search & Rescue (SAR) operation led by the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT), coordinated by the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU)
, and carried out by several alpine-trained and equipped citizen volunteer teams, successfully concluded on Monday, February 21, 2011, at about 11:25 AM, when Mr. Brian Carrico was located and rescued.
Members of the Kern County Sheriff’s Department – China Lake SAR team located an abandoned makeshift snow cave and tracks in the snow pack about two miles from the upper tram station and at about 8,600’ elevation. Next to the cave was an internationally recognized distress signal – three X’s carved into the snow. As the China Lake SAR team tracked the shoe impressions, aerial observers with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Aviation Bureau spotted a lone figure matching Carrico’s description and waving at the helicopter. A ground team from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department – Sierra Madre SAR, were directed to the subject and confirmed it was Carrico.
Carrico was airlifted to an awaiting ambulance and family members at the Palm Springs Visitor Center. He was able to walk to the ambulance under his own power and transported to nearby Desert Regional Hospital for observation. Carrico’s prior wilderness experience and training, as well as his calm mindset and physical condition contributed to his survival.
Notwithstanding Carrico’s outdoor experience, the safe and successful resolution of this SAR operation was a result public tips received via telephone and email, and the cooperative effort among several public safety agencies, and the wilderness rescue expertise of several citizen volunteer, nonprofit SAR teams from across southern California. Among those participating in this life saving operation were:
- Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (www.rmru.org)
- Desert Sheriff’s Search & Rescue (www.dssar.org)
- San Diego County Sheriff’s Mountain Rescue Team (www.sdsheriff.net)
- Kern County Sheriff’s China Lake SAR (www.clmrg.org)
- Inyo County Sheriff’s SAR (www.inyosar.org)
- San Bernardino Sheriff’s SAR (www.sbsar.org)
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sierra Madre SAR (www.smsr.org)
- California Emergency Management Agency (www.oes.ca.gov)
- California State Parks (www.parks.ca.gov)
- Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit, American Red Cross (www.redcross.org)
- Palm Springs Police Department Citizens on Patrol ( www.ci.palm-springs.ca.us)
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (www.pstramway.com).
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department would encourage outdoor enthusiasts to develop a plan, check weather reports, share routes and return times with family & friends, and make sure they are properly equipped for unexpected challenges.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Cabazon Sheriff’s Station at 951.922.7100 or via email at cabazonstation@riversidesheriff.org.
Original Details:
On Saturday, February 19, 2010, at about 8:10 P.M., deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department – Cabazon Station, responded to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway regarding a male hiker possibly lost in the Mount San Jacinto Wilderness.
The hiker – identified as Brian Carrico, age 57 of Redondo Beach – had not returned at a predetermined time and concerned family members contacted State Parks, who in turn contacted Sheriff’s deputies. Deputies responded to the tram parking lot and located Carrico’s locked vehicle in the parking lot.
It was learned that Carrico departed the lower Tram Station in the early morning hours on Saturday, February 19, 2010. He had acquired a permit to hike to the peak of the mountain. Family members reported Carrico was responsibly equipped (daypack, food, water, appropriate clothing) and that he was an experienced hiker. The last known time his cellular phone was functional was at 12:00 P.M.
At the time of the call, conditions atop the mountain were near white-out snowfall and temperatures in the low to mid-twenties. Through the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team (SERT), citizen volunteers from the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU) were mobilized and, with the assistance tramway employees, hasty search teams were deployed within a few hours of the initial call. RMRU volunteers have been working their way through heavy snowpack to check known shelters.
It is important that hiking enthusiasts remember high altitude mountain trails can quickly and unexpectedly get overcome by severe weather conditions. It is also important to note that cellular phones cannot always be relied upon in mountainous terrain.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Cabazon Sheriff’s Station at 951.922.7100 or via email at CabazonStation@riversidesheriff.org
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