From the Las Vegas Dunes & Trails ATV Club Newsletter of 12/3/07

A Ride to Disaster by Dave Krueger :

Some of you may remember a ride that Gary & Sallie led a while back where they had the participants go through a mock injury exercise. I had to put some of those lessons to use recently and would like to share what I learned.

Never ride alone – I was off by myself finding new trails in the Gold Butte area. I was about 8 miles from my camper and at least half that far from any well-traveled dirt road. I got thrown from my ATV and it rolled over me before landing upside-down at the bottom of a 60 foot deep ravine. I found myself with a badly injured right knee and a dislocated and broken right arm. Worst of all, no one knew where I was. If I ever do that again, I'll have a PELT (Personal Location Device) or SAT phone with me.

Always wear a helmet – I don’t (make that “didn’t”) always wear one, but after seeing the story in our last newsletter, I happened to be wearing one this time. I don’t know if it saved my life or not, but my head is the only place on my body that doesn’t have a mark of some kind.

Know how to use your winch – Everything I needed was in my cargo box, but it had a 700 pound ATV sitting on top of it! The first thing I needed to do was turn my machine over. I wouldn’t have had the strength even with two good arms; fortunately I had a winch to do the job. As an interesting aside, I have my winch mounted on the rear of my ATV. In this particular case, I couldn’t have gotten to it as easily if it was mounted on the front.

Carry the right equipment and supplies – When I finally got to my first aid kit I found that my cold pack was no good. There were several tubes of “stuff” in my kit but I couldn’t see what they were because my glasses had come off in the rocks somewhere. Put an old pair of glasses in your kit. The gauze pads were easy to find so I washed my knee and other wounds but found that the tape was all dried out. I had to bandage what I could using the tape like string (not an easy job with one arm). I could see that I was going to be there a long time, so I relocated and set the bone myself and made a splint for my arm (I don’t recommend that process!). I found that the best thing to have in your first aid kit is gauze pads and a minimum of 10 Ace bandages. Put the gauze on the wound and wrap it with an Ace bandage; it can be done with one hand. You can also splint with them.

After taking care of my injuries, I then had to winch my machine about 60 feet up to the trail. My winch has 25 feet of cable and I had an additional 30 feet of rope. Do you carry extra rope (or a tow strap)? I tied the rope around a large rock and start winching. The machine started moving but the rock kept breaking loose. This happened many times so I ended up digging around the (2’ to 3’ diameter) rock and putting the rope low so the earth would help hold the rock in place. Do you carry a shovel and/or pick?

I finally got the machine almost to the top with only 2 feet to go. I was standing on level trail trying to figure out how to hold the ATV while I relocated the winch cable which was in all the way. Suddenly the rock I was tied to let loose and I watched in horror as my ATV tumbled down, again landing upside down and deeper into the ravine than the first time. On days like this it’s really hard to stay focused on the task at hand! Another life saver was knowing how to tie a BOWLINE knot. I had to re-hook the winch many times to get up the hill and no matter how much pressure you put on it, a Bowline knot can still be untied with one hand.

I decided that I had one more chance before dark. I turned the machine back over and it started right up (it’s a Honda); so I now had light, heat, and power for the winch. I surveyed the area again and decide to go up the other side of the ravine. I winched it up and then back down into the next ravine. From there I was able to get out and ride down the mountain. As you can imagine, all of this stress and exertion required constant rehydration. I drank at least 8 bottles of water and used several more to clean my wounds. Luckily I had just put a new case of it in my box and had plenty available. Do you carry enough water?

I had one flat tire but was able to ride back to my trailer where I had an old pair of glasses that enabled me to drive out in my truck. I got to the doctor about 9:30 PM. They left the arm where I set it and just put a cast on it. The knee will be OK and the bruises will heal, but the lessons learned will not be forgotten!

WOW, what a day to go through. I am glad you made it out and hope you heel quickly.
A lot of people would have had to just sit and hoping help would find them. I ride a lot by myself and make sure I also have enough supplies when I do.

Good to see he will be ok. Many folks in this worlds mentality of "someone will rescue me", many folks would have given up before they even started. The fact that he never gave up, even after the machine took a second tumble, shows that he was full of perseverance, or, like me, just too stuborn to give up.

I carry a wool blanket, water and a fully stocked first aid kit (I am a former EMT and rope rescue tech) but never thought about how much water you would need to first clean the wounds then the fact that a wounded person looses lots of fluids from the combination of shock and bleeding, not to mention the additional exertion required if you have to self rescue.

I am gonna beat COB to this one, luckily he was wearing a helmet, sounds like at least it prevented minort injuries and might have even saved the melon from major injuries.

Good lesson for all. Thanks for sharing the story as we are all the wiser for it.


Added upon correction by Wayne. PS, sorry for the misunderstanding on my part. I didn't see the "by Dave Krueger" and should have known better.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: adrenaline_junkie_ff,

If I understand this correctly, it was not Desert Hawk who was injured, but a post from something he found at Las Vegas Dunes & Trails ATV Club Newsletter. I used to ride by myself near Loveland when I only had 1 ATV. It threw me off oncw. I didn't get any outward injuries, but I was quite sore inside. That was the last time I rode alone.

Glad it wasnt me I would have walked out with a bum knee and broken arm wouldnt even have thought about recoving the atv would have just walked back to the truck and gone to the hospital then worried about the atv later.

Course I say that but when I rolled my old 94 sportsman on me and broke my collar bone I righted the atv and rode it back home to where help was.

Good show of perseverance and resourcefulness.
I was able to answer 'yes' to all the questions, happily.
I ride alone quite a bit and am a paramedic. I take the view that you can be injured doing any activity alone, including driving in your car or pickup truck alone, and you can be injured and undiscovered as easily 100 feet from a road as 50 miles in the back country, and if you are going to advise never doing an activity while alone then you had better not do anything alone at all.
But the writer proved that a strong willed and capable person can deal with adversity. That's why we are reading the account.

Kudos to the writer. Good work.

Interesting read.

A couple of beneficial things: Let someone know where you are going and approximately how long you'll be gone; ride with someone.

Although accidents can happen in a vehicle on a road including no one locating you a 100ft off the road, I believe the overall risk of an accident occurring with off highway vehicles is much higher. Combine that with the isolation, some minor accidents can become major.

Go prepared.

adrenaline_junkie_ff

quote:

Always wear a helmet – I don’t (make that “didn't”) always wear one, but after seeing the story in our last newsletter, I happened to be wearing one this time. I don’t know if it saved my life or not, but my head is the only place on my body that dozen’t have a mark of some kind.

Thanks JUNKIE you saved me from getting told get off the soap box again!

Dam you talk about lucky, I just cringe as I read all of that. We have talked about adding a topic just for accidents so far haven't gotten it done but I think that I will holler at GOMER and have I'm add one. reading this may just help save someone else.

Glenlivet

I know your thoughts about riding alone, but to me the chances of a mishap are more magnified on a off road vehicle. I can think of two recently, one in FLORIDA that FS gal they found under her machine. Who knows had she had a partner maybe we wouldn't have read about her. The guy here in COLORADO that ran off the road and was in position that cut off his air. Makes ya wonder if both had a partner they would have survived. Just all speculation as maybe neither could have been saved no matter what. Just as {know I'll get hollered at for this} wearing a HELMET don't guarantee any thing but it will raise your chances of surviving.

Junkie get off Cob's soap box!!! Go get your own.

quote:

Originally posted by gregfuller:
Junkie get off Cob's soap box!!! Go get your own.

I stole it fair and square. I just found it recently discarded.

I knew a gal who was a paramedic and a member of SAR just outside Moscow, Idaho who was out hunting hith her hubby and rolled over a bank into brush on her quad last fall. Luckily the aircraft just happened to see a glint off steel through the thin leaves of fall and reported it in early the next morning and it wasn't too cold of a night. They had flown the same area the evening before and didn't see her.

quote:

Originally posted by adrenaline_junkie_ff:
I stole it fair and square. I just found it recently discarded.

Yu'just can't leave things laying around anymore on this board without someone else coming along, picking it up, and using it for themselves.

I like this board, I steal some of my best ideas here.