[TNham] Boy drowns at falls - Ham Radio operators initiated response

[Greg Williams]

Ham radio operator Jordan Webb, KI4AVG, made the initial call, and James =
Bond (yes, that is his name), K6SPY (yes, that is a vanity) made the =
relay to the Ranger Station.
Greg


Boy drowns at falls=20
7th-grader was on Vine Middle School field trip=20

By DON JACOBS AND ERICKA MELLON, jacobs@knews.com mellone@knews.com
May 1, 2004=20

Rescue divers on Friday found the body of a Vine Middle School student =
in 30 feet of water below Abrams Falls in the Great Smoky Mountain =
National Park after a science outing turned tragic.=20

The body of Christopher Drinkard, a seventh grader, was found at 5:47 =
p.m. trapped by strong currents against a rock at the bottom of the =
100-foot-wide pool of water. Divers had entered the water at 4:30 p.m. =
to begin the search.=20

"I was six inches from the boy's body when I saw it," said Nathan Smith, =
26, a diver with the Blount County Rescue Squad. Smith said he grabbed =
Drinkard's body in a bear hug and was pulled the 10 feet to shore by =
other rescuers.=20

Visibility was as far as six feet near the top of the water but =
decreased to less than one foot near the bottom of the 30-foot-deep =
pool, Smith said. Drinkard's body was clothed in jeans and a shirt but =
no shoes, Smith said.=20

Lt. Jeff Burchfield, who commands the Blount County Sheriff's Office =
Special Operations Response Team, said Drinkard's body "was found 20 to =
30 feet from where he went down."=20

The National Park Service is investigating Drinkard's death. The body =
was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, said Carey =
Jones, a park ranger.=20

Jones did not have details on how Drinkard got into the water. The boy =
was one of 41 students and four adults on the trip to Abrams Falls, =
which is 2.5 miles from the Cades Cove loop road.=20

"He was in trouble, and two adults tried to get to him and couldn't," =
Jones said. "At least one adult was a teacher. He went under and didn't =
come up."=20

Jones was unclear how authorities were alerted to the drowning.=20

"We got a phone call about 1 p.m. from a ham radio operator about a =
drowning in Abrams Falls," he said. Jones said he was unsure how the ham =
radio operator learned of the emergency.=20

By the time the first park rangers arrived on the scene at 2 p.m., all =
the children had returned from the falls and were on the school bus used =
for the field trip, said Park Ranger Tyler Stevenson.=20

Jones said two park rangers trained in critical incident stress =
debriefing met the bus at 3 p.m. at the ranger station to talk with the =
students.=20

The field trip was supposed to be the pinnacle for the seventh- and =
eighth-graders enrolled in Vine's Smoky Mountain Science class, which is =
offered through the school's science magnet program.=20

On this Friday, just three weeks before school lets out for summer =
vacation, science students were supposed to have the chance to see up =
close what they had been learning about from their classroom some 40 =
miles away. The school has held the same field trip for the past two or =
three years, said Russ Oaks, spokesman for Knox County Schools.=20

LaRoyce Beatty, principal of Vine Middle Magnet Performing Arts and =
Sciences Academy, praised Drinkard's character. As a sixth-grader, he =
won the school's spelling bee last year and went on to compete in the =
66th annual Knox County Spelling Bee.=20

"I can tell you he was a great student. He had impeccable character, no =
problems there," Beatty said. "He just was an example of how much =
character counts, and we're really going to miss him.=20

"The teachers work with the students all year, and then it culminates," =
said Beatty, who is in her first year at the school. "So the students =
really look forward to today and just having the opportunity to take a =
trip such as this."=20

Beatty said the outing was a "hiking trip," and she could not confirm =
whether swimming was supposed to be involved. The event was described as =
"hike to Abrams Falls" on the "off-campus trip approval form," which was =
signed by the principal and submitted to the Knox County Schools central =
office. The form had not been signed yet by Schools Superintendent =
Charles Lindsey.=20

Oaks said the paperwork for what he called "a routine field trip" simply =
had not made its way through the clerical process.=20

"This is a field trip we've taken (before)," he said. "At this point, =
it's really pro forma action on that. It would have been approved."=20

Ranger Jones and rescue divers said they would not swim in the pool =
below Abrams Falls.=20

"I encourage people not to swim here because it's not safe," Jones said. =
"One slip and you can crack your head. There are a lot safer places to =
go swimming."=20

Burchfield said the current during the rescue was running at 1-1.5 =
knots. "Anything over two knots is undiveable," he said. The current =
Friday, Burchfield said, was strong enough to knock over a man.=20

Elizabeth Harrison, whose seventh-grade daughter Heather went on the =
field trip, said the outing was supposed to involve a half-mile hike, =
lunch and swimming.=20

"We went out and bought a new swimming suit yesterday just for the =
trip," Harrison said while waiting for the bus to bring her daughter =
home.=20

She said she signed a permission slip allowing her daughter to go on the =
trip, and she had no worries.=20

With three teachers and a teacher's assistant on the trip, Oaks said, =
the school had the appropriate amount of supervision.=20

"That is well within the supervisory pupil-teacher ratio that is =
required for these types of outings," Oaks said, adding that the school =
system's standard field trip ratio should be one teacher for every 10 =
students.=20

Oaks said the school system would follow the park police's investigation =
with its own administrative review of the situation.=20

"I can tell (parents) that we're going to do anything in our power to =
scrutinize and to question every little thing," principal Beatty said. =
"We are a school that offers a variety of experiences for students. And =
we do our best.=20

"Our teachers take them on that trip because they want them to have =
different experiences than just coming to school everyday," she =
continued. "But I want parents to know that we're going to go the extra =
mile. If there's anything that we did not do this time, we will =
definitely learn from this."=20

Chaplain Wilma Walden, who works for the Knoxville Police Department and =
also substitute teaches at Vine, said she spent time this afternoon with =
Drinkard's family: his mom, Nellie; his dad, Stanley; his one brother =
and his two sisters. One of the sisters was an eighth-grader at Vine.=20

"The family is doing as well as you can expect them to do in a tragedy =
like this," Walden said.=20

The students were supposed to return around 2:45 p.m., according to the =
off-campus trip approval form.=20

Instead, the yellow school bus did not pull into the school's back =
parking lot until around 7:30 p.m. Parents, friends, community members =
and students had been waiting at the school for hours.=20

Once the bus parked, students' names were called out individually, and =
then each left the bus with his or her belongings. They went directly =
into the school to meet their parents and almost immediately left the =
school at 1807 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.=20

The family has set up a fund in Drinkard's honor. To donate, mail checks =
to the Chris Drinkard Fund, c/o First Tennessee Bank, P.O. Box 280, =
Knoxville, TN 37995.=20


Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345. Ericka Mellon may be reached =
at 865-342-6334.=20

____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Gregory S. Williams=20
Webmaster=20
This Week in Amateur Radio
k4hsm@twiar.org
http://www.twiar.org
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

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