Punch Bowls: Three incidents, four injuries in series of mishaps
May 21, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Three separate incidents, four injuries, one critical, helicopter rescues: things are becoming busier at the Punch Bowls, where a variety of mishaps kept emergency responses personnel - including a Santa Paula Fire Department Reserve and Search & Rescue member - busy over the weekend.
The string of incidents prompted a safety warning about visiting the Punch Bowls, also known as Santa Paula Canyon Falls, reached by a popular trail in a remote part of Los Padres National Forest accessible only by foot or helicopter. Flooding of years past washed out trails and improvements and made the hike to the area near Santa Paula Creek even tougher to get to.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Senior Deputy Don White, three separate incidents occurred at the Punch Bowl in about a 36-hour time span. On Saturday morning, May 15, Michael Tobey, 68, of Granada Hills, fell in an area not even accessible to a helicopter.
Tobey apparently suffered an ankle injury, but was able to assist rescuers who used a harness to hoist him up to a helicopter. Tobey reportedly was treated at Santa Paula Hospital and released.
Saturday evening a group of six people got lost after a day hike - there was no moon - and two fell on rocks and sustained injuries. White said at approximately 7:45 p.m. a helicopter was requested for the six lost hikers.
“Initial information stated two of the six hikers sustained traumatic injuries,” and the VCSD helicopter, piloted by Kim Bergeson, responded with a rescue crew. “The pilot and crew utilized night vision goggles during the rescue due to darkness and the remote location,” and while responding to the rescue Flight Paramedic Caesar Beningo and Upper Ojai Search & Rescue members Andy VanSciver of Santa Paula, a SPFD Reserve, and David Musgrove staged on the soccer fields at Thomas Aquinas College.
Upon landing at the college, White said all three were loaded onto the helicopter to assist with the rescue operation. “After an aerial search of the canyon was initiated, the six lost hikers were located on a large rock about one quarter mile downstream” from the Punch Bowls.
VanSciver and Musgrove were “hover offloaded onto a trailhead about one-quarter mile” from the hikers, and due to the unknown medical condition of the two injured hikers the helicopter hovered over the area. Beningo and crew chief Jeff Golden were hoisted 75 feet down into the narrow canyon, and about ten minutes after they contacted the hikers VanSciver and Musgrove arrived on scene.
Due to the injuries sustained by two of the hikers, the decision was made to transport them out of the canyon by helicopter. Beningo and Golden assisted in moving the hikers to an open area along the creek.
White said Bergeson positioned the rescue helicopter near the four, and they were hover loaded onto the helicopter from the top of a large boulder. Both injured hikers were flown to an awaiting ambulance at Thomas Aquinas College.
VanSciver and Musgrove escorted the remaining uninjured four hikers out of the canyon on foot, where, said White, “the four hikers were reunited with family and friends at the college parking lot.” The two injured hikers, Crystal Estrada, 23, and Tiffany Gonzales, 19, both of Port Hueneme, were lifted out and flown to a waiting ambulance. They were treated at Santa Paula Hospital and released.
The most serious accident occurred Sunday when a Westlake Village man, 24-year-old John Brewer, miscalculated the depth of the water and jumped off some rocks into the creek. He hit the bottom of the pool with his head, and friends who were watching Brewer jump called for help.
Brewer was not responsive when rescuers reached him about 10:15 a.m., and he was flown out of the canyon and transported to Ventura County Medical Center. Rescue workers at the scene considered Brewer’s injuries critical.
White noted the “Ventura County back country is a beautiful place to visit and camp; however, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department would like to remind all visitors to be prepared for their adventure.” Always carry plenty of water, food, maps, a first aid kit and flashlights for an emergency situation. And, noted White, always “advise your family or friends of your plans and location prior to entering the backcountry.”
