A 17-year-old girl was rescued Saturday in Sequoia National Park in California after being swept 500 feet downstream and through a section of rapids.
According to the Park Service, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon Dispatch Office received a radio call at 4:16 p.m. from a park employee relaying a report from visitors of someone in distress in the Kaweah River near Hospital Rock. A swiftwater rescue was initiated. Upon arrival at Hospital Rock, rangers found the victim, a 17-year-old female from San Jose, California. She had been swimming in the river at Hospital Rock when she was swept downstream. She was clinging to a rock when two visitors pulled her to safety. One Parkmedic, a park ranger with special medical training, and one EMT provided care to the patient. The girl complained of shortness of breath and pain where she had hit rocks in the river.
The girl was transported by ambulance from Hospital Rock to a local hospital. A total of 10 park staff and a deputy sheriff from the Tulare County Sheriff's Office responded to the swiftwater rescue.
"The person involved in this incident was incredibly fortunate, as others have died in similar scenarios," said Incident Commander Chris Waldschmidt. "Don't let their beauty fool you. Rivers can be deadly."
Drowning is the most common cause of death at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Most drownings happen from May through August. Even when temperatures in the Central Valley are hot, river water is extremely cold, as it comes from melting snow in the mountains. Cold water quickly induces hypothermia, which dramatically reduces one's ability to react in an emergency. Many drowning victims have fallen in accidentally on slippery rocks at the river's edge or have been carried away by currents, which are especially strong in spring. Never swim or play by the river alone, and watch children carefully.
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