Olympic Staff Members Aid in Rescue Operation for Fisherman

By: Chad Lewis, Communications Specialist

March 26 , 2008

 

Staff members at Olympic Corrections Center on March 16 assisted in tracking and rescuing a fisherman who suffered an apparent heart attack in a dark forest.

The fisherman was in a remote section of a river near the facility, and his partner was unable to carry him out of the forest.  An inmate work crew from Olympic Corrections Center escorted by
Sgt. James O’Hara was initially deployed as well as Sgt. Tim Hull who responded from home. Hull was the first to arrive and assisted in carrying the ailing fisherman to a waiting vehicle that took him to Forks Community Hospital.

Ron Howell, a correctional officer at Olympic Corrections Center and a volunteer EMT with the Forks Ambulance Corps, was an initial responder and helped stabilize the fisherman.

Hull, an instructor for the DOC Inmate Recovery Team Academy, was trained for this type of search.

“I continue to be impressed with the entire region’s emergency response community and in particular our (OCC’s) ability to successfully negotiate this typography of mountains and forest lands, to not only locate and evacuate stranded persons, but to also provide medical first response treatment,” said John Aldana, Superintendent of Olympic Corrections Center. “Overtime OCC and our partners have lent this type of assistance for many injured, stranded and lost individuals.”

 

Divider image - horizontal green bar