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Accident Database: Accident #2054
| River: | Deerfield |
| Section: | Monroe Bridge to Bear Swamp |
| Location: | Labarynth Rapid |
| Gauge: | 1100 cfs |
| Water Level: | Medium |
| Difficulty: | IV |
| Accident Code(s): | Swim Into Undercut Trap |
| Injury Code(s): | Near Drowning |
| Age: | 21 |
| Experienced/Inexperienced: | Inexperienced |
| Years Paddling: | <1 |
| Private/Commercial: | Private |
| Boat Type: | Raft |
| Boat Manufacturer: | |
| Boat Model: | |
| Number of Occupants: | 5 |
| Number in Group: | 14 |
| Number of Victims: | 1 |
| Other Victim Names: | |
| Hazard Codes: | Natural Strainer or Sieve |
| Initial Report: | Charlie,
There was a near miss on the Deerfield river today. It involved a rafter from a local college who swam through Dragons Tooth when her raft dump trucked. A few Zoar guides were playing at the top of Labyrinth in a private raft when they pulled in behind an eddy on river left and one of them noticed something in the water upstream of them. After a second he realized it was a body underwater. The person was wedged in a crack.
A Zoar guide guide jumped out and tried to extricate her, but was unable to at first. One of the other rafters from her group then came downstream along the shore and jumped in and helped. The two of them were able to get her out and with the help of a few Crabapple guides who were just downstream of them in Labyrinth they pulled her up onto a rock. By that time another of our guides who is a nurse had climbed onto the rock and began cpr. After about 3 or 4 cycles of cpr she revived. They figured she had been underwater for at least 3 to 7 minutes.
They then put her onto a backboard and rafted her to the takeout where she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Our guide who is a nurse went with her to the hospital and as of the last report, the woman is expected to recover fully.
Apparently she was pinned in a narrow slot just at the top of Labyrinth on river left. Her hips were stuck in the slot and she was bent forward almost like a bow pin in a kayak. Our guide who first tried to extricate her said he was standing just upstream of her and tried to pick her up by her pfd, but he was just pulling it off of her, so he tried to lift her by her legs, but that didn't work. When the other person got in the water to help him, they were able to lift her by her hips, but it was difficult.
If you want more information, I can get you in touch with the people involved. We're all very happy that it worked out well, but the two who were most involved were pretty shaken up by it.
Bruce Lessels
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| Summary: | |
| Detailed Description: | |
| Conclusions: | |
| Report Status: | On Going |
