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Rescuers lauded for mountainside heroics

The Mountaineering Association has sent an e-mail message to the National Relief Command Center (行政院國家救難指揮中心) to thank the center for its efficiency and timely rescue efforts in two incidents during a mountaineering expedition on June 3.

Noting that Taiwan truly is progressing and that things have indeed improved in the past few years, the message thanks the command center's leaders Lin Ping-chang (林秉常) and Shi Chin-tsun (施金村), the group as a whole and several government agencies for imploring the expedition to be careful, pay attention to security issues and avoid accidents.

On June 1, a group of 26 people set out on a six-day expedition to climb a group of peaks at altitudes of 3,000m or more, including Mount Nanhu (南湖山) and the Central Range Point (中央尖山).

The first two nights were spent in the mountain lodge in the Mount Nanhu cirque valley. At about 4am on June 3, Chang Chin-chung (張進忠), who has climbed Mount Nanhu several times, led a group of climbers up to the Nanhu peak

By 5am, a female climber experienced a sharp pain in her right side that appeared to be a burst appendix.

Because there was no reception down in the valley, three climbers scaled the mountain ridge -- taking with them their cell phones and a radio to call for help. Since reception at the ridge still was not good enough, they continued to the peak where they finally were able to contact the National Relief Command Center (行政院國家救難指揮中心). After detailed questioning about the patient's symptoms, doctors at the center decided to send a rescue helicopter.

The helicopter arrived at 8am. The weather was clear and visibility good, so the patient was moved on board and transported to a hospital.

After the helicopter took off, the group decided to continue. After a while, another member showed signs of mountain sickness and the relief command center was once again contacted. A doctor at the center confirmed the diagnosis, saying that the patient needed to be moved to a lower altitude.

Since the group was located in a cirque valley, however, it would first have to climb the surrounding mountain range before being able to descend the mountain. The center therefore ordered a second helicopter to go to the climber's rescue.

Both patients later recovered.
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