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Health & Fitness

Rescue Excess at Chantry Flats

There are risks associated with the overwhelming emergency response to rescues in the Big Santa Anita Canyon at Chantry Flats.

I am a frequent visitor to the Big Santa Anita Canyon and that means that I am at Chantry Flats and the Adams Pack Station quite often. Once or twice a week, someone gets hurt or does something stupid within the canyon that requires some form of assistance or rescue.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was on my up to Chantry Flats to attend a friend's Summer Solstice party at a cabin in the Canyon. I stopped for gas at the Arco station at Foothill and Santa Anita.  I had just heard on the radio (the Canyon's Fire Safe Council has a radio system) that someone had sprained their ankle on a trail in the Canyon. As I stood at the gas pump I knew what to expect next. Sure enough, I watched in amazement as truck after truck screamed through the intersection, sirens blaring on their way up to the narrow winding road to Chantry Flats.

Upon arrival at the Flats, I slowly made my way through the gauntlet of emergency vehicles and personnel parked near the trail-head. After parking at the Pack Station, I met up with the owner, Deb Burgess, and we began our hike into the Canyon together. At the trail-head, we found the usual response to any call for help in the Canyon: $2-3 million worth of equipment and about thirty emergency personnel from six different agencies.

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I decided to take an inventory of what it takes to rescue someone with a twisted ankle:

  • Two large red fire engine ladder trucks
  • One regular red fire engine
  • Two green Forest Service fire engines
  • Three large red fire paramedic trucks (Sierra Madre, Arcadia and LA County)
  • One red and white private company ambulance
  • One red "Battalion Chief" Suburban
  • Four white or yellow Sierra Madre Search and Rescue trucks
  • One green Forest Service Pickup

These vehicles belonged to each of the following responding agencies: Sierra Madre Fire, Arcadia Fire, L.A. County Fire, U.S. Forest Service, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue and the private ambulance company. All of this equipment was first rate and gleaming and the personnel behaved with the utmost professionalism, as always. 
Normally, the gigantic Sheriff's helicopter, "Air 5" would also show up and hover around the Canyon, but it didn't show - they must have been on another call.

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I spoke to one of the Cabin owners who came across the victim on his way to the party and he confirmed that the injury was indeed a sprained ankle.

The next day (a very busy Sunday), some idiot got stuck climbing on the side of the canyon, probably cutting the trail or showing off. I heard all the sirens slowly making their way up the Chantry Road from my house. While this is admittedly a more serious situation than a sprained ankle, the huge emergency response apparently necessitated the closure of the Chantry Flats Road for several hours.  No one was allowed in or out.

There are several concerns that I have about this obviously excessive response that I am sure is driven by ambulance chasing attorneys who would love to find any excuse for a lawsuit.

First, these emergency personnel and their equipment are out of action for several hours should another emergency occur down in the city during that time. It would take them about a half hour to muster and reach Huntington Drive in Arcadia. In addition, it is highly probable that an accident on the Chantry Flats Road (which happens frequently) could block the emergency crews from reaching the city for several hours. The giant fire engines themselves could cause an accident negotiating the very narrow and winding road.

Second, if that much equipment, personnel and expense is always available to be unavailable for several hours then perhaps we might have too much.

Third, on weekends, the Chantry parking lot is full and cars are parked up to a mile below the parking lot on both sides of the road. There are many people and lots of children walking to and from their cars on both sides of the road and most of the time they have to walk within the roadway. I believe that it is only a matter of time before someone is hurt or killed by emergency equipment charging to the rescue.

The Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team is a fine organization and should be able to handle almost any rescue situation in the Canyon with the help of a paramedic/ambulance. Indeed, if half of the equipment and personnel currently responding to rescues were used, the "victim" would still be well served.

I know, a Chantry Flats rescue is one of the only situations that our various emergency service agencies can get together and talk to each other informally while they wait for the rescued person to make it up to the Flats.  This is a good thing but I am not sure that the benefits outweigh the risks. Maybe the agencies could get together and agree that only three or four of these agencies will respond to each rescue call. They could agree to weekly rotation schedule that will give everyone a chance to participate within a month's time.

Make no mistake, I appreciate everything our emergency service agencies do to keep us safe and it is possible that I could be on the receiving end of these services at sometime in the future. I just want everyone to understand the risks of the current policies.

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