It's 7am and it's already starting to get warm. Summer weather is finally here. It's another Saturday morning at Cheeseboro Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in the Simi Hills. Now that's a mouthful that I've become pretty good at rattling off over the last 10 years as a NPS volunteer. When visitors come to my interpretive station I sound like I know what I'm talking about. The "Interpretive Station" is really a dusty old trailer.
I'm finishing up my short hike on the Modelo Trail and coming down to open up the "trailer". That's it right in the lower right corner of the picture.
First mountain bike of the day at 7am.
As I'm finishing up my morning something happens that causes me to ask: What the hell is it with guys!!??
It was 11am and the temperature is already well into the 90's and I'm at my trailer talking to another ranger. About thirty feet away, huddled in the shade of a small Kiosk, there're three guys and one girl all in there twenties. The girl sits on the far side of the guys and out of my view. Everything seems normal as many people have used the shade of the Kiosk for a break. At least fifteen minutes goes by and a car comes by to pick them up. The four of them get up to go to the car and I see at that moment that the girl can barely stand. She is obviously suffering from heat exhaustion possibly showing signs of heat stroke. Immediately my fellow ranger, standing outside the trailer, goes over to the young lady as she makes her way to the car with the aid of her "friends". As I watch I prepare to radio in for help. He comes back to the trailer and says that she and her "friends" refused help and he referred to these clueless guys as "tools". As they drove off it left me with the question "what the hell is it with guys!!??
During the summer heat related problems among trail users is a common problem. All volunteers and rangers are prepared to assist visitors who are suffering. The young lady needed help and we weren't able to see her and her "friends" did not bother to make us aware of her condition. Her "guy friends" decided to let their suffer while waiting to be picked up when 30 feet away in my trailer I have water, ice packs and a fan but most importantly I have direct radio contact with the necessary resources for help. Heat exhaustion needs to be treated immediately before it becomes heat stroke. During the few moments that I observed her it was clear that she needed help. If I had been made aware of her condition I would have called in LA County Rescue to respond regardless of what her "guy friends" said. In the end she made it to the car that came to pick her up and there was nothing left to do but hope that she would be alright.
The young lady's "guy friends" made a decision that put her at risk at a time when she could not act on her own. The male brain seems to put aside common sense when a guy risks sacrificing his machismo by asking for help.
All that was left to do was for the Ranger to record the incident as a refusal for help.
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