Rescue crews called to Boyette

[Guest]

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[Ken]

The gate thing is an easy fix. Put another lock on the chain in addition to the Land manager's that the EMS and deputy (county) has a key to so they have access.

[BadAssCorrado]

The rider wasn't on Gary, but actually at the end of Swamp Thing.  Me and a buddy of mine where riding behind the group of three through SideWinder then Swamp T..., ST was very slippery(Clay, Muddy) so we actually ended up walking 50 % of it, after we finished the trail the women and two other riders turned around to re-enter the trail. The young lady would be injured seconds later, (we actually heard the fall) and yelled out then listen for a few minutes to see if anyone needed assistance, didn't hear reply so we kept going..... Ray Charles could see that the trail was in dangerous condition giving all the rain that fell that night, so I have no idea why they went back in. disturbing part was that neither the Property mgr, nor the First Responders had maps showing the back trails and had difficulty finding the riders..... We gave them our updated map, See my post in the suggestion box

We went back in to ride the section that we had worked on during the last workday. The section for all intensive purposes looked completed and no more dangerous than anything else out there that morning. The conditions were what caught her out, but it was more of a fall that could have happened to anyone, anywhere, any conditions. I've had the same fall she did in the best of conditions but it just so happened I didn't get close lined by a tree. 

[firebiker]

The gate thing is an easy fix. Put another lock on the chain in addition to the Land manager's that the EMS and deputy (county) has a key to so they have access.

They make something called knox locks. They can be on electric gates, key doors or a padlock. Fire/EMS has the key that will open it. No one else can open it. The locks are a bit pricey- I think their 70 or 80 bucks now for the padlock. The fire dept has to install them (should be free), but once it's on there, a notice should go out to each unit that the gate has one. It really helps with quick access and prevents cut locks and chains.

[Garry]

The gate thing is an easy fix. Put another lock on the chain in addition to the Land manager's that the EMS and deputy (county) has a key to so they have access.

They make something called knox locks. They can be on electric gates, key doors or a padlock. Fire/EMS has the key that will open it. No one else can open it. The locks are a bit pricey- I think their 70 or 80 bucks now for the padlock. The fire dept has to install them (should be free), but once it's on there, a notice should go out to each unit that the gate has one. It really helps with quick access and prevents cut locks and chains.

Ok, so now they could not get the gate open either?  All emergency personnel assigned to that area is supposed to have gate access.  Was it Paul, the guy who lives on property, who was "the land manager?"  The Sheriff deputy assigned there (Joe something - I forget his last name), has the key or combo to the gate too, so no need to cut chains or locks.

[noble]

Sounds like a job for a full face helmet--how come none of you XC riders wear full face? Seems like if you want the most safety for what you call technical trails, you would wear them. Most guys that I jump with wear full face--not me, but I have been wearing my helmet quite a bit...Gregg? You hear that?

Don't even give me the comfort or looks excuses either or I will be forced to say hypocrites again!

[Gregg]

Ya know Mike,
I don't mind joking with you about this subject, but someone got hurt. I really don't think that this is the thread to be making those jokes. If anything it underscores my ongoing point. That anyone of us can get hurt at any point, that is part of the thrill in riding these bikes. Not just when we are jumping, but at any time.

[LTS guy]

My love of two wheeled things began with dirt bikes, and it's standard to go full face on those, but I suppose trees hurt nearly as bad at 17 mph as they do at 35mph..for me it's a vision thing..when riding, I tend to think, I can react faster than an accident can happen. I'm wrong, but thats what my subconscious tells me anyway...something to think about anyway.
I'm just glad she was ok, my homeboy had a similar accident at Carter road, and he was off the bike for almost 3 months, and still has the scars to prove it.

[Ken]

I agree, we tend to think we can pull out of situations before they happen. I've many close encounters of the tree kind but never hit really hard. Slapped a shoulder hrd a couple of times but no full body slams. Heck I had close calls at Squiggy on the shell road coming back to the scoring table. The last hard right turn before the table there was a tree on the left side of the road I almost hit on all 5 laps at about 17 -20 MPh. You'd think I would have remembered after the first lap. The last lap I even heard gasps, oohs and ahhs, fron the people sitting there as I clipped it with my hip.

[beansurfin]

I am glad to have found this site. I am a 911 dispatcher with Hillsborough County and I was in the Dispatcher center when this call came in. I too being a rider am interested in doing something about getting emergency response times quicker in case of an emergency. I was wondering if anyone here has GPS maps plotted out for Boyette, Alifia and Morris Bridge. We are able to use GPS signals from cell phones to plot out where a person is. Unfortunately when it comes to an off road trail, we dont have that in the system so it shows up in a open area. I think if we were able to get a GPS map of the trails we might be able to put that into the mapping system so that when a person calls we can see where on the trail they are or at least the closest trail. The new county brush trucks are equipped with GPS in them and if we could get the trails programmed into their systems it would mean quicker response times. I hope. Of course I am not sure this will actually work but it is something I am wanting to try to get done.  Anyway, all this said to say, if there is anyone here who can email me that GPS info I am going to do my best to see about getting into the computer systems. If the next time there was an emergency and the rider was way more injured, time is of the essence. If it takes an hour to fine them, 20-40 minutes to treat and make it back out to the road and then another 20-30 to load into helicopter and make it to the hospital, you are looking at close to 2 hours before making it to the hospital. In EMS there is a Golden Hour which basically says it should take no longer then 1 hour to respond, treat, and transport to the hospital. Of course there are certain circumstances that dont allow for this but every possible attempt should be made. This is what I hope to accomplish with all this.

I am very glad to hear that the lady is ok and I hope her the speediest of recoveries. It has been awhile since I have been out on my back and I am missing it badly. Thank you all and I hope to hear from someone soon. My email is beansurfin@hotmail.com

~Josh~

[Jersh]

Wow, excellent information Josh, and if your suggestion works out it sounds as if it might be a way to avoid future delays in finding and treating injured riders.  I have several partial GPS data sets for the WTA trails, however I don't have any data logs that have every single trail on the Morris Bridge side mapped out.  I'm sure someone does though and hopefully they can hook you up with that.

[ejosrq]

Here's wishing Lindsey a speedy recovery.   Bill, you might remember meeting me at the last Boyette work day - I'm Eric the Mocal guy. You should be glad they did not send a helicopter for her, as insurance pays very little of the cost.  I know a guy who had an accident here in Sarasota on I-75; not too bad, but still needed hospitalization and they wanted to Bayflight him to Tampa. The EMS debated the option and finally made the choice to transport him by ground, saving him (what he was told) would have been a $3,500 bill. That could have worse though, I know another unfortunate individual who had to be evacuated from a cruise ship in the Caribbean. That only cost $27,000 for a private jet out of Venezuela to Orlando.

[LTS guy]

My friend Jimmy, used to race dirt bikes up at Dade city raceway. and had a pretty bad spill, they airlifted him to Pasco county hospital, 10 minutes away by car, so you figure, 3 or 4 minutes by heli, and they hit him for $3000. Insurance covered everything but that.
he wasn't even awake to enjoy the helicopter ride....so he really felt gypped. lol

[noble]

Gregg--I wasn't joking about the full face helmet thing. I put the smile on there about the hypocrite thing. But thanks for assuming that I would joke about people getting hurt.

The point was--if you want to be as safe as possible, wear a full face helmet. The one time I thought you guys would certainly agree with me.... but instead I get a lashing. Bummer.

[LTS guy]

no lashing from me sir, I agree they are safer, having a motocross background..I just can't see well enough for my liking with one on. But don't listen to me I'm stupid..

[slowfatguy]

Gregg--I wasn't joking about the full face helmet thing. I put the smile on there about the hypocrite thing. But thanks for assuming that I would joke about people getting hurt.

The point was--if you want to be as safe as possible, wear a full face helmet. The one time I thought you guys would certainly agree with me.... but instead I get a lashing. Bummer.

a response like that coming from a guy that doesn't wear a helmet Nothing personal, but this is a serious subject and hopefully some good things will come from it.