Spring Break
Students help in effort to find lost hiker
Issue date: 10/25/07
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Jacob Allen, an 18-year old autistic boy, disappeared in the Dolly Sods wilderness of the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia on Sunday, Oct. 14. Appalachian Search and Rescue and the West Virginia State Police scoured the woods for days to no avail. Just as hope began to wane, the Johns Hopkins Outdoor Pursuits (OP) leaders decided to take action.
All of the OP leaders were notified of the incident through e-mail on Wednesday by OP coordinator Phil Friesen, and several leaders answered the call. The team consisted of sophomores Greg Shultz, Dan Saragnese and Kathryn Smith; junior Ryan Farmer; seniors Andrew Telzak, Brenna Allen and Livy Coe, and graduate student Nate Miller. The eight experienced leaders packed into their cars on Wednesday night and made it to the search site by 5 a.m. on Thursday.
"The students were really the drivers," said OP coordinator Phil Friesen. "I e-mailed out and it was amazing. I felt so proud of the Outdoor Pursuits instructors because within two hours of the e-mail, they were on the road and heading out there. That's pretty impressive."
When the crew, designated Team Echo, arrived they were assigned to search a section of thick brush on a steep hill, a tough terrain to navigate and began searching at sunrise. Because of forecasts of rain on Friday, which would have made Jacob vulnerable to hypothermia, it was essential that they find him as quickly as possible. Though perhaps not the most experienced in search and rescue, the Hopkins OP team probably knew the lay of the land better than most.
"We led lots of trips down there," said sophomore leader Greg Shultz. "We go to the Dolly Sods every year, so a lot of us were familiar with the area." The leaders were also ready for whatever crises came their way.
"Everyone who went was a wilderness first responder," said Shultz. "There's an eighty-hour course that we all have to take that's like first-aid and handling injuries in the backcountry and stuff like that."
All of the OP leaders were notified of the incident through e-mail on Wednesday by OP coordinator Phil Friesen, and several leaders answered the call. The team consisted of sophomores Greg Shultz, Dan Saragnese and Kathryn Smith; junior Ryan Farmer; seniors Andrew Telzak, Brenna Allen and Livy Coe, and graduate student Nate Miller. The eight experienced leaders packed into their cars on Wednesday night and made it to the search site by 5 a.m. on Thursday.
"The students were really the drivers," said OP coordinator Phil Friesen. "I e-mailed out and it was amazing. I felt so proud of the Outdoor Pursuits instructors because within two hours of the e-mail, they were on the road and heading out there. That's pretty impressive."
When the crew, designated Team Echo, arrived they were assigned to search a section of thick brush on a steep hill, a tough terrain to navigate and began searching at sunrise. Because of forecasts of rain on Friday, which would have made Jacob vulnerable to hypothermia, it was essential that they find him as quickly as possible. Though perhaps not the most experienced in search and rescue, the Hopkins OP team probably knew the lay of the land better than most.
"We led lots of trips down there," said sophomore leader Greg Shultz. "We go to the Dolly Sods every year, so a lot of us were familiar with the area." The leaders were also ready for whatever crises came their way.
"Everyone who went was a wilderness first responder," said Shultz. "There's an eighty-hour course that we all have to take that's like first-aid and handling injuries in the backcountry and stuff like that."
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Dave Eichler
posted 11/07/07 @ 10:18 AM EST
Great work with locating the lost person in WV!! I was Greg Schultz's teacher when he was in high school. He was a valuable member of the class I teach called the Donegal Experiential Education Program (DEEP). (Continued…)
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