Hiker Injured In 30-Foot Fall Passer-By On Nearby Road Helps Administer First Aid

With the help of a passer-by, an Athol, Idaho, woman escaped serious injury Sunday after falling 30 feet off a rock bluff while hiking.

Bonnie Orser, 52, tumbled off a rock outcropping and into a small ravine around 9:45 a.m., while hiking with her husband in the woods near GoodHope Road, east of Athol. She suffered abrasions and bruising but was treated and released from Kootenai Medical Center later in the day.

Orser and her husband Del had left their home a few miles away on foot Sunday morning and were following a game trail through the woods. After sitting down to rest on the outcropping, Bonnie Orser stood up, became dizzy and fell backward off the rock, said Ray Magner, 62, the Spirit Lake man who was driving by when Del Orser frantically hailed him down on a nearby county road.

“She had bounced off a few rocks - the lady was hurting pretty bad,” Magner said.

Magner and his brother-in-law had been planning to go four-wheeling in the woods nearby.

“I was complaining this morning because I was getting such a late start, but now I know why,” he said. Now retired, Magner had learned basic emergency first-aid while working on refineries on the West Coast.

He drove Del Orser several miles up a small logging road and then followed him another 300 yards on foot through the woods to where Bonnie Orser lay. Magner checked her pulse and breathing then called 911 from his cell phone.

“I’m no hero. I’d do it for anybody and they’d do it for me,” he said.

“They just happened to hit the right person coming down the road.”

Nearly 15 volunteer emergency medical technicians and paramedics from Hayden, Spirit Lake, Bayview, Athol and Kootenai County responded to the call.

“There was a lot of loose shale and loose dirt, and that made it hard,” said Hayden Fire Department volunteer Bill Gunterman, who helped rescue Orser from the rocks. “This was not an approved trail and that’s a real safety issue.”

Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy Mike Douglass cautioned outdoor enthusiasts to pay attention to surroundings and avoid taking chances, especially when far from access roads.

“Enjoy the view but stay away from the edges. Let people know where you are going and an estimated time of return,” Douglass said. “Nobody would have ever found them if they had both fallen.”

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BE PREPARED FOR HIKING INJURIES Hiking accidents can happen - even just a few miles from home. To help avoid injuries while hiking or backpacking this summer, here’s a few tips from leading outdoor magazines and “Hikenet,” an online hiking and backpacking information resource. Take a day pack with water, food, extra clothing or rain gear, a compass or map, pocket knife, matches, flashlight and sunscreen. Bring a first aid kit. According to a Journal of Wilderness Medicine study surveying summer backpackers in Yosemite National Park, 15 percent of hikers surveyed had to shorten their trip because of medical reasons. Insect bites, wounds, blisters, sunburn, allergic reactions and lacerations were the most common serious medical problems. The survey also found most backcountry hikers were only carrying 48 percent of the recommended first aid supplies. A minimum first aid kit should include moleskin, Band-Aids, antiseptic, wound dressings, adhesive tape, safety pins (to hold compresses in place, open blisters or make a sling from shirt sleeves), tweezers, scissors, a snake bite kit, and aspirin or other pain relievers. While Tylenol reduces fever and relieves pain, Ibuprofen (Nuprin, Motrin, Advil) is a better choice for reducing inflammation. Remember to tell someone where you are going and your estimated time of return. Choose well-maintained, marked trails. “Hikenet” and its Internet links are at http://members.aol.com/hikenet/index.html

-Andrea Vogt