Woman stuck upside down under rock for hours after trying to retrieve dropped phone
- Reference: 1729657987
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/23/woman_stuck_upside_down_under/
- Source link:
The Register offers that advice after the Ambulance service in the Australian state of New South Wales this week [1]reported the case of a woman who fell into such a crevice and spent hours inside it before being rescued.
The woman apparently dropped her phone, tried to reach for it, and ended up falling headfirst into the crevice, hanging by her feet. Her friends spent an hour trying to get her out before calling emergency services.
[2]
A woman's feet wedged between boulders in Australia. Image: NSW Ambulance – Click to enlarge
[3]Google brings better bricking to Androids, to curtail crims
[4]'A moose hit me' and other ways people damage their gizmos
[5]Smartphones sales bounce, Xiaomi biting at Apple's heels
Specialist rescue paramedics arrived and set about creating a safe place from which to work and move boulders.
[6]
Rescue workers attempting to free woman who lost her phone. Image: NSW Ambulance – Click to enlarge
They eventually constructed a hardwood frame, and used a winch to move boulders. The woman's feet became accessible, but the passage out of the crevice was described as a "tight 'S' bend." Removing the woman therefore took another hour.
She emerged with only a few scratches after a seven-hour ordeal.
[7]
The phone was not recovered. ®
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[1] https://www.facebook.com/NSWAmbulance/posts/pfbid02QZzXgUGx6eq2c5M2pNYGEn8A8QxLhq7mtCHLdFzwrmsfG6ASWjGye1gN1hzizmYdl
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/10/23/supplied_phone_boulder_rescue.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/08/google_android_security/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/26/device_damage_survey/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/15/smartphones_q2_analysts/
[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/10/23/supplied_phone_boulder_rescue_australia.jpg
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZxjJRwrroCZoV3csRxdfxQAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Specialist rescue paramedics arrived and set about creating a safe place from which to work ...
How very Gen Z.
Gen Z
Very gen Z from both sides:
She for having everything on her phone and therefore being so willing to try something so stupid.
And the rescue paramedics: Being head down is not a good place to be for extended periods - luckily there was sufficient airflow, otherwise this would have been a story regarding suffocation (re. Neil Moss tragedy in Peak Cavern, although he was upright) - and so time is really of the essence. Out with my caving mates we always carry sufficient rescue gear to deal with most eventualities. Here it would have be tackled with tapes around each ankle attached to a rope and simply pulled out (with encouragement for the casualty to wriggle into the widest part of the gap at various points), whilst nobody touched any of the loose rocks. It would have been much more difficult had she been out of arms reach for us 'larger' people as we would have had to lasso at least one ankle.
The most awkward rescue I have performed like that was when a friend (of very small build) slid down a very small hole to reach a 100 foot pitch, only to realise that the hole was the top of the pitch, his feet were in free air and he was held from falling by his helmets chin strap! We couldn't reach his belt as the passage was too tight and he was about 6 foot down it. We just took off our belts (caving belts are 2 inches wide and designed to support your weight), sent our next smallest member down to put a belt over one shoulder and under the other and then make a chain of the other belts to pull him up. Sorted in under 5 minutes!
If the girl in this story fitted through the gap to get into that predicament (with the aid of gravity), then a strong pull (to overcome gravity and friction) should have brought her out quickly.
These paramedics are men and women who will intubate someone entrapped in the crushed cabin of a vehicle that has gone over a cliff and is stuck in a tree, having abseiled down to get to them. If they have to.
Is Gen Z still a label you want to attach to them?
Specialist rescue paramedics arrived and set about creating a safe place from which to work ...
How very Gen Z.
You're not much good to anyone as a rescuer if you're dead. You're even less useful if you're now also trapped in the same predicament - as you've just doubled the workload for the rest of the rescue team. Finally, if the victim is in an unstable environment - then just blundering in may make things worse (or actually kill them).
There are times when rushing in to save the day may be the best option - there are other times when your best action is to stop and have a think. Then tackle the problem methodically.
a) Wow
b) Where's the IT angle?
Judging by the photograph, I think the angle is around 180º
>.b) Where's the IT angle?
"Onna phone" innit? if its good enough for software patents, its good enough for El Reg.
The phone had an out of Arm's reach processor....
I guess the phone had sedimental value.
I would love to downvote that one for being terrible, but I can't bring myself to do it. NIce one
And she was barefoot ?
What the blazes was she doing barefoot in the hills ?
Is this a missed Darwin award ?
Re: And she was barefoot ?
She either put her foot in it, or rather fell for it.
Re: And she was barefoot ?
What the blazes was she doing barefoot in the hills ?
Mostly, she was just hanging out with her friends...
OK, coat it is.
The important question is...
What phone did she drop?
I don't wish to criticise, but...
What's wrong with these people?!?!
Useless paramedics only did half the bloody job! The woman doesn't count as being fully rescued until her phone service has been restored to her. You've built a winch and moved some boulders - surely the least you can do is to get down there and save the phone as well? Phones have feelings too!
After all, you can't post your hospital selfie on Facebook without access to your phone...
I'd have been tempted to..
..periodically call her phone.
She was startled when she saw a drop bear.
Embarrassing
I’d get mad, then I’d go get my tool pouch, and then I’d get my gol-durn phone back.