November 9, 2002                            Troop

Scouts help save climber

By RACHEL HOLTZMAN
reporter@digmo.com

A Saturday afternoon camping trip in the Pinnacles Youth Park was a true testament to Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.”

Members of Boy Scout Troop 702, based at Broadway Christian Church in Columbia, were camping in the park when five Scouts saw 20-year-old Angela Lemon fall 35 feet from the bluff she was climbing.

“The Scouts were in a position to see her fall,” said Andy Thomas, the troop’s assistant scoutmaster. “They were able to make sure she didn’t fall any farther, and then notify the troop leaders, who called 911.”

Ranging from 12 to 14 years in age, the third-year Scouts, along with two people who had been hiking with Lemon, were able to stabilize the Columbia woman until firefighters with the Boone County Fire District arrived. Lemon remained conscious and explained her injuries to the Scouts, who then called upon their first-aid and emergency-preparedness training.

“They handled it real well,” said Thomas, who arrived on the scene shortly after the fall.

The Scouts then directed rescuers to Lemon’s location. Firefighters had to climb the bluff to get to Lemon, where they provided primary medical care. But the challenge lied in how the firefighters were going to transfer Lemon from the bluff to the MU Staff for Life 1 medical helicopter.

Having suffered head and chest injuries from the fall, Lemon was placed in a back brace and collar. She was then placed in a rescue basket that was lowered 30 feet to the creek bed below. Firefighters then carried her in the basket to an ambulance waiting to take her to the helicopter.

“She’s a very fortunate young lady,” said Ken Hines, assistant fire chief with the Boone County Fire District. “Had the Scouts not been there, or if she was by herself and unconscious, it would have been a different situation.”

Lemon was taken to University Hospital, where she was in fair condition Saturday evening.