Update on Troop 217
About 14 hours after the searches started in the heavily wooded Pisgah National Forest one of the leaders walked out and met up with a utility meter reader that drove him back to the command post. Searchers were then able to go into the woods and quickly locate the rest of the group. Everyone was safe and in good spirits so the ending of this story was a happy one.
The happy ending wasn’t by luck but by the preplanning prior to the trip as well as making the right decisions when faced with a problem. First off they had appropriate equipment and supplies with them. They had left detail plans and maps of where they would be hiking and the expected time they would be back. Those who had those plans sounded the alarm when they did not return as scheduled. When the scout troop lost the trail they were hiking and got into an unknown area with nightfall coming on they didn’t panic they made the right choice to make camp and wait till daylight to figure out how to get out. They had cell phones but I can attest to the fact that many of those areas are dead zones for cells and they were unable to call. Once daylight came one of the leaders found a powerline and he hiked to it and then followed it out running into a meter reader that gave him the ride to the command post.
These are all important factors in the happy ending we should all remember them when we take outings.
WRAL Video Link to Press Conference
Planning and preparation have saved a lot of people. Sounds like these Scouts had good and smart leaders. I’m glad things worked out the way they did. It so easily could have become a tragedy.
Comment by Kristine Shreve — September 25, 2007 @ 9:09 am