Shamelessly stole this from another board...
Here's the article...not sure why the link's not working yet...
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
6/15/2004 12:00 am
A Reno nurse was recovering from emergency surgery Monday after being rescued Sunday from a remote area near the Black Rock Desert after a companion sent an emergency plea to an Internet chat room.
Sydney Sorensen, 42, underwent surgery for small bowel obstruction hours after a Care Flight helicopter located her campsite after directions were transmitted to emergency medical workers on a Web site devoted to motorcycles.
“My husband said that I can’t get upset with him anymore when he spends all his time talking about motorcycles on thumpertalk.com because it saved my life,†Sorensen said Monday.
William French of Castle Rock, Colo., contacted Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority officials after he read the pleas for help. The computer, set up at Soldier Meadow Guest Ranch, was about five miles from the campsite and the only way to communicate, Sorensen said.
Soldier Meadows is a family-owned working cattle ranch that bills itself as one of the largest and most remote guest ranches in the nation. It offers cattle drives, trail rides, hunting treks and horsemanship clinics.
“We had cell phones and walkie-talkies but they were not doing any good,†she said. “I don’t think I could have made it driving to Gerlach on a dirt road because it would have been too much pain.
“For me to tell my husband to call Care Flight, I had to be feeling pretty bad,†Sorensen said. “As a nurse it is my job to make sure our resources are being used to the best of our ability.â€
REMSA officials said Sorensen did the correct thing.
They were pleased to hear Monday she is recovering but are concerned that pranksters will take advantage of the media reports.
“There is always the fear in the back of our minds of that,†said Russ Barnum, operations manager of REMSA in Reno. “But that would not outweigh our response to any situation. But it is in the back of our minds that this could open up an untraceable avenue for pranksters.â€
Anyone using text messages via the Internet to relay a false rescue call is subject to a $2,000 fine and six months in jail, said Richard Gammick, Washoe County district attorney. It is the same punishment for anyone who calls in a false report into the emergency 911 line, Gammick said.
“We need to ask the pranksters to lay off and find something else to do with their time,†Gammick said.
One of Sorensen’s camping companions, Tim Sharp of Reno, drove to the guest ranch for help when the camper found that their cell phones and walkie-talkies were of no use, said Wayne Sorensen, Sydney’s husband.
“That computer at the ranch is the only communications they really have out there,†Wayne Sorensen said. “You don’t get anything out there. You don’t even get power. They run off a generator. They are roughly 60 miles outside of Gerlach, down a dirt road.â€
Sharp could not figure out how to hook up the computer’s satellite telephone, so the text messaging to the motorcycle Web site was the last option.
“I was very concerned,†Wayne Sorensen said. “You don’t know if the people over the Internet are actually doing what they say. But the man from Colorado (French) came though. Most of the people on that Web site are pretty good.â€
Wayne Sorensen said French saved his wife’s life. French said he’s no hero.
“Please don’t use that word,†French said. “All I did was make a phone call.â€
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/sh...ll/fpart/1/vc/1
<!--EDIT|VaBusa
Reason for Edit: None given...|1087407132 -->
Here's the article...not sure why the link's not working yet...
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
6/15/2004 12:00 am
A Reno nurse was recovering from emergency surgery Monday after being rescued Sunday from a remote area near the Black Rock Desert after a companion sent an emergency plea to an Internet chat room.
Sydney Sorensen, 42, underwent surgery for small bowel obstruction hours after a Care Flight helicopter located her campsite after directions were transmitted to emergency medical workers on a Web site devoted to motorcycles.
“My husband said that I can’t get upset with him anymore when he spends all his time talking about motorcycles on thumpertalk.com because it saved my life,†Sorensen said Monday.
William French of Castle Rock, Colo., contacted Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority officials after he read the pleas for help. The computer, set up at Soldier Meadow Guest Ranch, was about five miles from the campsite and the only way to communicate, Sorensen said.
Soldier Meadows is a family-owned working cattle ranch that bills itself as one of the largest and most remote guest ranches in the nation. It offers cattle drives, trail rides, hunting treks and horsemanship clinics.
“We had cell phones and walkie-talkies but they were not doing any good,†she said. “I don’t think I could have made it driving to Gerlach on a dirt road because it would have been too much pain.
“For me to tell my husband to call Care Flight, I had to be feeling pretty bad,†Sorensen said. “As a nurse it is my job to make sure our resources are being used to the best of our ability.â€
REMSA officials said Sorensen did the correct thing.
They were pleased to hear Monday she is recovering but are concerned that pranksters will take advantage of the media reports.
“There is always the fear in the back of our minds of that,†said Russ Barnum, operations manager of REMSA in Reno. “But that would not outweigh our response to any situation. But it is in the back of our minds that this could open up an untraceable avenue for pranksters.â€
Anyone using text messages via the Internet to relay a false rescue call is subject to a $2,000 fine and six months in jail, said Richard Gammick, Washoe County district attorney. It is the same punishment for anyone who calls in a false report into the emergency 911 line, Gammick said.
“We need to ask the pranksters to lay off and find something else to do with their time,†Gammick said.
One of Sorensen’s camping companions, Tim Sharp of Reno, drove to the guest ranch for help when the camper found that their cell phones and walkie-talkies were of no use, said Wayne Sorensen, Sydney’s husband.
“That computer at the ranch is the only communications they really have out there,†Wayne Sorensen said. “You don’t get anything out there. You don’t even get power. They run off a generator. They are roughly 60 miles outside of Gerlach, down a dirt road.â€
Sharp could not figure out how to hook up the computer’s satellite telephone, so the text messaging to the motorcycle Web site was the last option.
“I was very concerned,†Wayne Sorensen said. “You don’t know if the people over the Internet are actually doing what they say. But the man from Colorado (French) came though. Most of the people on that Web site are pretty good.â€
Wayne Sorensen said French saved his wife’s life. French said he’s no hero.
“Please don’t use that word,†French said. “All I did was make a phone call.â€
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/sh...ll/fpart/1/vc/1
<!--EDIT|VaBusa
Reason for Edit: None given...|1087407132 -->
