Au Revoir Yellowstone

Hello Everyone!

Well the time has finally come for me to end my time here at Yellowstone National Park. Honestly, I can't believe tomorrow is my last day. This experience has been one of the best in my life and I will never forget the memories I have made here.

My last week here was pretty fun and filled with a relative amount of excitement. Last Sunday I actually got to work a bear jam again. It was really great - best bear I have seen all summer. This guy was at least 3, maybe 4 hundred pounds easily. When I arrived on scene, it was a mad house. I was the first one to arrive and there were literally cars everywhere. There were tons of people on the road and many of them were WAY too close to the bear. After I got the cars out of the roadway and got all of the people back to a safe distance, it really became an enjoyable experience. I had a bunch of people offer to send me pictures, and there were tons of people asking questions about the bear and what he was doing. Animal jams can be very stressful times and a lot of them this summer were pretty taxing, but every now and then you get one where you can be an interpreter and really teach people about the Park and the wildlife. Really the best part of the job.

Last night was also very exciting as well. I got to go on a medical call with the ambulance. Crazy turn of events led me to this occasion. My supervisor called me late in the day to tell me to leave the patrol vehicle at the Tower Ranger Station, so that she could pick it up in the morning. I was then supposed to get a ride with one of the general Rangers who lives in Silver Gate just past the NE gate. Well, as it turns out, they were having an end of the season pot-luck at Tower, so we stuck around to join in the fun. (Tower is a sub-district of the Lamar River District, so I had worked with these folks all summer long). About an hour into the party, there was a medical call over the radio. John (the Ranger that was driving me home) responded that even though he was off, he was prepared to bring the ambulance up if need be. The patient was at the Buffalo Ranch in the valley. After radioing that along, he asked me what I wanted to do as far as getting back to Northeast. I told him, that if he didn't mind, I really would like to ride along and see how everything works when the ambulance responds to a call. Well, John is a great guy and said that was fine with him as long as the night shift supervisor (NSS) didn't have a problem. About ten minutes later the call comes out that they need the ambulance. So we gear up, say our goodbyes, and head up the valley with the ambulance. When we arrived on scene, John and I helped the patient into the ambulance and set him up on the stretcher. After doing an initial talk through with the patient, we had a short briefing. The NSS told the other LE Ranger, Amanda, to drive the ambulance and he wanted John and me to ride in the back with the patient while he stayed and patrolled the district. So we took off heading for the rendezvous point halfway between the North Entrance and the hospital in Livingston. The patient was not critical, but he had a head wound and was in what seemed to be an altered state of consciousness. He continuously asked the same questions and had a very hard time remembering anything from his day. I did a lot of talking to him so that John could focus on keeping him stable. It was truly a first hand learning experience for me. John showed me everything he was doing and I got some first hand experience dealing with a patient as well as putting some of my first aid knowledge to work at the same time. We made it to the transfer point around 11pm and made a very successful transfer. I am happy to report also that although the patient spent last night in the ICU he is now stable and in a normal hospital room expected to recover fully. It was a great learning experience which I took a lot from. I am definitely committed to furthering my Emergency medical services training; now more than ever.

There is a very large fire burning in the Park right now as well. The fire started last Wednesday and has grown to 9,300 acres and has shut a road down. Luckily this is the first major fire in the Park this summer and we are expecting snow tonight and 2 to 5 inches during the day tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be able to contain the fire so that it does not threaten any visitor services or developed areas of the Park. I find it ironic, though, that the first day I was in Yellowstone it snowed and the last day I will be in Yellowstone there is a 90 percent chance of snow! High of 35 degrees tomorrow! Which of course is my cue to get out of Dodge...

Let The Great Adventure Part II: The Return begin!

I will be in touch soon. I plan on taking a week to get home and making the most out of the journey.

Brent Everitt
Visitor Use Assistant
Northeast Entrance Station
Yellowstone National Park