Thanks for great response
Dear Editor:
On Saturday, Jan. 24, my wife, Sandy, broke her leg while cross country skiing on the Methow Trail north of the North Cascades Basecamp. She was seriously injured, unable to move, in a great deal of pain and we were suspecting a fractured upper leg (femur) — 911 was alerted and medevac was requested. While waiting for the rescue team to arrive, several skiers assisted by providing warm clothing and comfort. Another skier with paramedic experience skied to Highway 20 to escort the rescue crew back to the accident site.
First to arrive and initiate patient assessment and first aid was Mazama emergency medical technician C.B. Thomas. Shortly after, Aero Methow Rescue Service paramedic Vikki Buzzard and Okanogan County Sheriff’s deputy Ottis Buzzard arrived with the sheriff’s tracked ATV and rescue sled. Vikki quickly administered aid and prepared Sandy for a comfortable 1-mile ride to the Highway 20 trailhead.
From there Sandy was transported to Three Rivers Hospital and finally to Wenatchee, where she underwent surgery for a fractured right femur. She’s home now and doing quite well — and most appreciative of the folks who were involved in the medevac.
A special thanks to C.B. Thomas, Vikki and Ottis for a most professional, well-orchestrated and expedient rescue with “tender lovin’ care.”
We are so fortunate to have Aero Methow Rescue Service with its medical rescue capabilities as part of our community. Thanks, Cindy Button, for the great service that Aero Methow Rescue provides. And thanks to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office for providing its tracked ATV with deputy sheriff Buzzard driving the “perfect machine” for medevac. We deeply appreciate the “dynamic rescue duo:” Vikki and Ottis.
Bill and Sandy Moody, Twisp
Not a win
Dear Editor:
Mr. Brook congratulated the Okanogan Wilderness League (OWL) in your paper for its victory over the town of Twisp in the State Supreme Court (Jan. 28).
Stripping Twisp of its water rights was hardly an environmental win. The result was housing which would otherwise have been built in town being built on large lots sprawling over the hills.
This counter-productive decision could never have happened in Oregon, whose water law prefers municipal use to all other uses as the “highest and best use.” Oregon law also wisely allows cities to hold water rights fallow indefinitely in anticipation of future growth.
My congratulations go to the city of Twisp for succeeding in a long struggle to regain water rights in the face of bureaucratic inertia, thoughtless state water law and the simpleton obstruction of OWL and its ilk.
Dan Aspenwall, Winthrop
