Woman Survives 11 Hours in Freezing Utah Canyon

[Ashley Cawley]

A Utah woman’s story of survival after spending 11 hours in freezing temperatures in a rural Utah canyon paralyzed by two broken legs is a precautionary tale in wilderness survival, medical experts say...


Video @
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/woman-survives-11-hours-in-freezing-utah-canyon/

[luresalive]

Wow, although we all like to think we would know how to react if we were in that situation, I wonder if any of us would act correctly..

[Ashley Cawley]

Wow, although we all like to think we would know how to react if we were in that situation, I wonder if any of us would act correctly..Very harsh decision isn't it (to leave) and then to have to travel over an hour to get mobile phone signal, then not have a chopper turn up as quick as you hoped. :( Still she pulled through! :)

[Silverback]

then not have a chopper turn up as quick as you hoped.

The chopper is invariably further away than you thought & the mobile phone is overrated.

Hypothermia probably played a part in saving her by shutting her down periphally and helping the reduce blood loss - similar clinical results were obtained in the Falklands in '82 with blast injuries and GSW.

This statement is interesting quote: “You’re not supposed to move somebody because, in a lot of cases, you can make injuries worst, Goldberg told ABCNews.com."

In some cases failure to move the casualty will make things so bad that the casualty dies!! For instance someone laid face down U/C in a stream after falling into it. Although each incident has its own merits, there is one constant - Air goes in and out. Blood goes round and round. Anything else is - bad !

If he hadnt left the casualty she would have most certainly died, if he left her she may also have died, but because he left her she survived all credit to him.