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GPS helps save life
at the Glamis Sand Dunes
Not Just a Toy Anymore
Story
and photos by Banshee Bob Anderson
During the
winter months we spend most of our weekends riding our sand toys (quads,
motorcycles and buggies), at the Imperial Sand Dunes. Better known as
Glamis, this area is the largest mass of sand dunes in California. This
dune system extends for more than 40 miles in a strip averaging eight
miles wide. Sand hills to heights of 400 feet and bowls as wide as a
football field! An eye opening experience, like an ocean of sand.
Like many of you, I am a gadget
and gizmo nut. I purchased my first GPS receiver when they were first
made available to the public years ago. My wife and my friends made fun
of my electronic toy, Hey Bob planning on getting lost today-dont know
how to get back to camp? I just thought to myself one of these days
GPS will come in handy. Well that day came.
Early one morning a few of
us decided to go out and take a short ride before the rest of the camp
got going. I rode in one of the buggies as a passenger with GPS in hand.
We were moving across the dunes, and I was playing with the GPS, not paying
much attention to what was going on around us. I just happened to look
up to see one of my friends, Malcom, on a quad going into one of the bowls
at a high rate of speed. As he reached to the bottom of the bowl, he
tried to avoid a jump, but it sent him airborne. As he flew off the jump
he went over the handlebars. He landed headfirst into the sand with the
350 pound quad crashing on top of him.
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We raced over to him to find
that he was unconscious and not responding to our voices. We noticed fluid
coming out of his mouth and heard gurgling-this was serious. In all of
the commotion and panic, I remembered I had my GPS receiver. I ran to
the buggy and entered in our location as a waypoint. I checked
to see how far we were from camp, 5 miles away. With no time to lose,
I jumped on a quad, telling my friends Im going to get help. As I raced
back to camp I felt like I was going the speed of sound. As I reached
camp, I jumped off the quad while it was still moving. My wife called
911 on a cell phone and told the operator the situation. The 911 operator
wanted an address, address? We were in the middle of the sand dunes!
I have GPS coordinates of where he is! The operator could not help
us by only receiving the coordinates.
The BLM
Rangers have rescue buggies that patrol the sand dunes equipped with GPS,
but the ranger station was another three miles way. I wrote down the
coordinates and gave them to my wife. She drove to the ranger station
to get help. As my wife was telling the Ranger about the accident, he
pointed to a huge wall map of Glamis behind him and asked where was the
general location of the accident. She threw the coordinates on the counter
Theyre here! she said. The Ranger with a big surprised look on his
face, grabbed his GPS and entered the coordinates.
Meanwhile
back at camp, we had a nurse with our group, (lucky us!). She, her husband,
and I, jumped into a 4x4 pickup with a first aid kit and my GPS. I hit
the GOTO key and entered the accident waypoint as we headed back
into the dunes. I found myself focusing on the little arrow on the screen
pointing out to an ocean of Sand. I
realize then this GPS was not just a toy anymore, it was life or death.
In a 4x4 truck you couldnt
take the same trail as a quad or buggy. We had to navigate around the
hills and bowls. As I gave directions to my friend he was asking me,
Are you sure were going the right way? The distance was closing in,
four miles, then three, two, one. I wondered if this GPS was working?
I was not paying much attention the first time I was there, so nothing
was recognizable. We closed into a half mile, quarter mile, still no
accident site. I hope this thing is working! Now 300 feet, still nothing,
Where in the hell are they! The GPS was showing 200 feet and the arrow
pointing at a hill, I was convinced we were lost.
Just when things could not
get any worse, the unthinkable happened. The truck got stuck in deep
sand! As we jumped out of the truck, one of the guys that stayed behind
at the accident scene rolled up on a quad. I could not believe my eyes!
I was relieved like a ton of weights lifted off me. He said, Were just
around the hill in the bowl! The nurse got on the quad and was taken
to the accident. The rest of us stayed behind with the truck to get it
out of the hole.
We arrived at the accident
site about 15 minutes later to find a BLM Rescue Ranger and the nurse
giving first aid to my friend. They loaded him into the rescue buggy
on a backboard for a trip back to where the ambulance was waiting. After
we returned to camp, the Ranger thanked me for having those coordinates.
It was a first for him to have coordinates to an accident site, and wished
at least one person would always carry a GPS just for that reason.
I hope this story would encourage
everyone to carry a GPS. After the accident, I never leave camp without
it, and a cell phone. Malcom spent a few weeks in the hospital, and thankfully
he is fully recovered. If fact you might find him still riding across
the dunes.
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