DPS medic killed by helicopter blade

[Jeffshadows]

A veteran medic for the Arizona Dept. of Public Safety was killed during a mountain rescue near Sedona Monday afternoon.

A DPS helicopter team had been called to Bear Mountain to rescue two stranded hikers about 3:15.

One of the hikers had gotten aboard the helicopter. As Officer Bruce Harrolle was escorting the second patient into the chopper, he was struck by one of the helicopter's rotor blades and fatally injured.

Both hikers were flown to safety.

Investigators from the DPS, Yavapai County Sheriff's Office and National Transportation Safety Board are conducting a probe into the accident.

Harrolle was 36 years old and had been with DPS for nine years. He is survived by a wife, two children and his parents.

It has been more than eight years since DPS experienced a line of duty death.

[joebartels]

That's horrible, I can't imagine where a helicopter would land on that rugged mountain

[PaleoRob]

That's horrible, I can't imagine where a helicopter would land on that rugged mountain

That was part of the problem. It was hovering with one skid on the slope and the other out in the air. This brings the blades closer to the ground, because of the slope of the hillside, than normal.

[Jeffshadows]

I wondered if it was something like that...

[JoelHazelton]

I can't imagine where a helicopter would land on that rugged mountain

Isn't Bear Mountain a giant plateau? Maybe I'm underestimating the size of a helicopter, but I seem to recall some good flat areas up there.

[azdesertfather]

that's so sad. our thoughts and prayers to Officer Harrolle's family during this awful time...

it's easy for us to beat up on hikers who make mistakes, and i don't want to add myself to that, other than to say that i wish everyone would realize when making bad decisions that it's not just your life that you're putting at risk, but also potentially others who have to come to your rescue. of course, we don't even know if the hikers involved made bad judgment call(s) in this or not, based on the limited reports i've seen at least.

for those of you who want to leave a condolence to the family, you can google "Condolences for Bruce Harrolle" and click on the first link you see, through legacy that is linked from the azcentral news story...

dave

[Jeffshadows]

Mesa medic killed in DPS rescue in Sedona
John Leptich, Tribune

A medic who lived in Mesa on Monday became the first Arizona Department of Public Safety officer killed in the line of duty since March 2000. Bruce Harrolle of Mesa died Monday in a DPS mountain rescue.

At about 3:15 p.m., officer Bruce W. Harrolle was assisting in a mountain rescue of two hikers dehydrated and stranded 1 1/2 miles northwest of Doe Mountain and 1 1/2 miles southeast of Bear Mountain in Sedona when he was struck and killed by a helicopter blade, according to Lt. Jim Warriner, a DPS spokesman.

The incident occurred after the DPS Air Rescue Ranger Helicopter based in Flagstaff responded to a request from the Sedona Fire Department and the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office at about 2:40 p.m.

After getting a man safely loaded into the helicopter, Harrolle, 36, was helping a woman get into it when her foot got caught in some brush or cactus, according to Warriner. Harrolle was hit by a helicopter blade and died instantly.

"It was a high-risk skid landing on one edge," Warriner said. "The pilot got the woman safely to the base camp two miles away."

The pilot was identified as Bradley Heppner, of Flagstaff.

No other injuries were reported.

Harrolle, based in Flagstaff, was a nine-year DPS veteran. He is survived by his wife, two young children and his parents. Funeral arrangements are pending, according to DPS officials.

Warriner said that Harrolle and Heppner practiced similar rescues regularly.

"Not only is this a loss to the DPS family, but to all of rescue," Warriner said. "They work with local police departments and hospitals, and this will have an impact on them."

Warriner said that the DPS Special Investigations Unit is investigating this aviation incident, and that the National Transportation Safety Board will also conduct an investigation.

[azdesertfather]

so it was because of hiker unpreparedness...lack of water...uggh

i bet those hikers have a grim memory now to live with the rest of their lives, too...that it will be hard to ever go away

i know nobody's perfect...we all make mistakes at times in different areas of our lives that we wish we hadn't...it's just horrible when others have to suffer such a cruel fate as a result of them, and not just ourselves

[Jeffshadows]

I wasn't there so it's hard to know what the assessment on those two patients would have been. It sounds like both of them were ambulatory and they could have just dropped water in to them and stayed on station until a ground team got there. Like I said, it's just so hard to speculate unless you were actually there.

I can say this, and all of the experienced people on here will agree: If you dehydrate yourself on a hike *you* are to blame. Dehydration is not an accident, it's a failure to plan and be adequately prepared. Even when I go into an area where I plan to filter I carry enough water to make the whole trip and then some just in case. Is it heavy? Heck yes...but it beats the alternative!!

[Jeffshadows]

I wasn't there so it's hard to know what the assessment on those two patients would have been. It sounds like both of them were ambulatory and they could have just dropped water in to them and stayed on station until a ground team got there. Like I said, it's just so hard to speculate unless you were actually there.

I can say this, and all of the experienced people on here will agree: If you dehydrate yourself on a hike *you* are to blame. Dehydration is not an accident, it's a failure to plan and be adequately prepared. Even when I go into an area where I plan to filter I carry enough water to make the whole trip and then some just in case. Is it heavy? Heck yes...but it beats the alternative!!

The exception being long backpacks, but I would always ensure ample water sources available for the time of year, know where backups are, etc...

[Jeffshadows]

so it was because of hiker unpreparedness...lack of water...uggh

i bet those hikers have a grim memory now to live with the rest of their lives, too...that it will be hard to ever go away

i know nobody's perfect...we all make mistakes at times in different areas of our lives that we wish we hadn't...it's just horrible when others have to suffer such a cruel fate as a result of them, and not just ourselves

I was talking with a couple of SARA guys last night about this, and it seems like maybe these people couldn't be "bothered" to haul the extra weight of the water. That's all speculation, though...

[Davis2001r6]

I can see the rescuers wanting to get the hikers off the mountain before dark. Very unfortunate..all because of some stupid water. Seriously it wasn't that warm this weekend did the hikers not bring ANYTHING with them? Maybe there is more to the story but I would think it would have came out by now. A man loses his life attempting to rescue some people that weren't conserened enough about theirs. Sad

[Jeffshadows]

Indeed; I really wish I had the whole story just to be sure my indictments of the hikers are justified...

[nonot]

A multiday backpack in the desert may be an excuse for dehydration...but doesn't seem like it applies in this case. I can remember a hike where we had to go over 16 miles to find the next water source...and it was unseasonably hot out....really hot. If the water we found wasn't there we'd have had to go 19-23 miles. Having the capacity to carry 2-3 gallons may not be enough if nature conspires against you. Then again, these folks probably tried to climb the mountain with a 30 oz bottle of water

[mttgilbert]

I heard a story on the news about this last night. They had the tapes of the call-in. Apparently (based on the story) the hikers went off trail, got themsleves cliffed out or something and spent a few hours trying to get down. They initially asked for directions down but a helicopter was dispatched anyway. They were asked it they had supplies - food and water; they said something like "kinda".

I know I wasn't there, and that this can happen to anyone. But it's hard not to feel like these two were irresponsible in their actions and should be responsible (if not accountable) for this man's death. It's easy to judge from a keyboard in the safty of my house, but these people were ill prepared to be off-trail and it makes me a little angry that someone died as a result of it.

[Jeffshadows]

...Well said.