ABSEILING 14th July 2007 - Heart Attack On Rope, Blue Mountains, NSW
Peter Hodgkinson
A 49-year-old man died from a heart attack (cardio arthero sclerosis)
while abseiling with a group of 11 people at the Boars Head, Katoomba.
They had planned for a routine abseil trip of 3-4 hours duration, down
the western side of the Boars Head. It was midday when they left, and
the weather was clear but cold.
The group was on the second abseil (a 10m free abseil followed by an
open, sloping rock face to a ledge about 65-70m below the start). The
man was in the middle of the group and was using a rack on double 9mm
ropes. There was a person on bottom belay who had a clear view of the
entire drop. About half way down the second part of the drop, the man
collapsed against the rock face, and slowly pitched over sideways to
end up in a semi-inverted position. The additional friction from the
rock face prevented him from sliding further. The group's main concern
at this stage was Harness Hang Syndrome. The group were unaware that
the man was probably already dead. One member of the group (who had
already abseiled) climbed back up towards the man but could only get
within 3-4m of him safely. Another member who was still above, set up
a spare rope and abseiled down to the man (this took about 10
minutes). Upon reaching him, the man was pulled the right way up. He
was not breathing and had no pulse. The man was lowered to a small
ledge (still on abseil) and the two people attempted CPR. This was not
possible to do safely or effectively given their position on the rock
face. The body was lowered to the base of the abseil (now about 15-20
minutes since he collapsed). A doctor in the group who witnessed the
entire event commented that the man appeared to have died instantly
and would have known little or nothing about it.
A call to 000 was made and details given. The body was secured and the
rest of the party descended the abseil. Three members were sent on
ahead to assist the authorities (who had already arrived when they
reached the top). The rest of the group (except one who remained on
the scene) made the final descent.
The rescue helicopter arrived about 45-60 minutes after the incident.
The person still there directed them to where the body was and they
prepared to descend on the winch. However, the helicopter left the
scene when they learned that the death had been verified by a
practicing doctor, and that the matter was no longer a "rescue" but a
"body recovery" and therefore was not within the jurisdiction of the
rescue people but of the police. At this point the last person
completed the descent, leaving the body attached to a tree.
The body was recovered early the next morning by police rescue and
Polair, the police helicopter.
Comments from the group -
The spare rope carried by the person at the top of the abseil proved
valuable in enabling a quick descent to the man.
Little could have been done in a situation like this to prevent the
man's death, and it is difficult to plan for such an event.
LEVEL 3 REPORT