By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Of the nearly 30,000 people who
made Juab's West Desert home during Easter weekend, there
was only one death and that was not caused by an accident
but by a suspected drug overdose.
"There were the usual injuries,"
said Juab County Sheriff Alden Orme.
The fatality occurred while a
22-year old male from Mountain Green in Morgan County, was
camping at the Little Sahara Sand Dunes Oasis Campground
with some friends on Friday and Saturday April 14 and
15.
The death occurred sometime after
the young man had gone to sleep.
"A lot of his friends were
sleeping in a trailer," said Orme. "He decided to sleep in
the back of a pick-up truck."
On the morning of Saturday, April
15, one of the girls found him dead. Officers were then
alerted and the man was taken by ambulance to Central Valley
Medical Center.
His body was then transferred to
the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy as an
unattended death. The name of the victim is being withheld
pending the outcome of the autopsy.
"The BLM (Bureau of Land
Management) released the figure of approximately 30,000
visitors to the area," said Orme. "Though the numbers were
down slightly this year, those who did come to the Little
Sahara Sand Dunes stayed longer than they have in years
past."
He said that by Wednesday, the
Dunes campgrounds were already crowded and by Thursday,
their was a large group of visitors.
"All in all, it was a great crowd
though there was still plenty of action," he said. "The
crowd was made up of mostly families."
In all, he said, there were 60
law enforcement officers on hand to help control the unruly
elements.
Those officers, said Orme, came
from his office, the Juab County Sheriff's Office, from the
Juab County Search and Rescue team, the Utah Highway Patrol,
the State Bureau of Investigations, the Motor Vehicles
Enforcement Team, the Utah State Parks and Recreation, the
Utah Department of Corrections at Gunnison, and the Bureau
of Land Management Rangers.
In addition, medical help was
provided by West Juab Ambulance Association and by Air Med,
who were stationed at the recreation area. They were
assisted by East Juab Ambulance Association as needed and by
Life Flight.
The State Bureau of
Investigations and an alcohol squad, a drug interdiction
squad and a canine squad all at the site. The Department of
Corrections at Gunnison also provided a canine
unit.
"There were 168 total citations
issued," said Orme.
Those were for a variety of
problems such as DUI, drugs, underage alcohol use, speeding
and other crimes.
"Since we have so much heavy
enforcement, the issuance of citations has actually
dropped," said Orme.
"This year, we did something a
little differently, and we kept track of each time an
officer made a contact," he said. "There were 2,785 total
contacts."
Those contacts consisted of
warnings given and of help and assistance given. Those kinds
of contacts help visitors to know that law enforcement is
not just there to "ruin a holiday but to give assistance and
aid," said Orme.
"We received a grant from BLM to
purchase two 4-Wheel vehicles and a Sand Rail," said
Orme.
"BLM paid for me to go to
Washington D.C. to a conference held there," said Orme.
"There were three sheriff's from Utah who went."
While there, officials asked what
could be done to help the sheriff's with the job of
overseeing the health, safety and welfare of their
constituents. Orme gave them a long-list.
BLM offered a no-match, no-repay
grant to Juab County Sheriff's Office to be used for two
4-wheel vehicles with sand paddle tires and one Sand Rail.
The Sand Rail, he said, was on order.
"We could only use the grant
money, roughly $64,000, for the approved items," Orme said.
"There is a possibility of adding more money to the grant to
purchase a trailer for the Sand Rail."
He said the two 4-wheel vehicles
had been purchased from Garrett Honda in Nephi and were used
for the first time at Easter.
"We responded to several
accidents out on the sand," said Orme. "In one case, a male
was found unconscious and a rider summoned us to the site.
We were able to get there because of the 4-wheel vehicles
and were able to guide the helicopter directly to the scene
with our GPS units."
He said the ability to respond
quickly to the scene helped save a life and helped others
during the holiday to also get help quickly.
Now that BLM no longer is as
willing to help with sand searches, the equipment will be a
great help to the sheriff's office, he said.
On April 12, a 44-year old male
was injured in an ATV accident and was transported by Life
Flight.
April 13, a 24-year old male
received a lacerated chin , a 29-year old male received a
shoulder injury, a 30-year old male had abdominal pain. All
were taken by private car to get medical help.
April 14, a 20-year old male
received an eye injury and was taken by private care to get
medical help. Still on that date, a 16-year old female
received neck, back and hip injuries in an ATV accident and
was transported by Air Med and a 23-year old male was also
injured in an ATV accident and received possible concussion
and other injuries and was taken to Central Valley Medical
Center by ground ambulance.
April 15, in addition to the
death of the 22-year old male, a 16-year old male received
head and other injuries in an ATV accident and was
transported by Air Med, a 25-year old male received arm
injuries when an ATV rolled and was taken by ambulance to
Mt. View Hospital, a 22-year old male was injured and was
taken by private car to get medical attention, a 19-year old
male was injured and was transported by Air Med, a 5-year
old male was injured in an ATV accident and was transported
by Air Med, a 24-year old male received foot injuries in an
ATV accident and was taken by private car to get medical
attention, a 27-year old male was injured in an ATV accident
and had no movement to his feet and was transported by Air
Med.
On April 16, a 29-year old man
was injured in a Sand Rail accident and was taken by
ambulance to Mt. View Hospital, a 20-year old male was
injured in an ATV accident and suffered two possible broken
wrists and was taken by ambulance to Central Valley Medical
Center.
In addition, said Orme, two
people were injured in an ATV accident at Rock Well's Pond
at Cherry Creek on April 16. Both were transported by Life
Flight.
"I didn't get back into town
until Tuesday," said Orme. "Air Med had mechanical problems
and their people had to leave. They have rules about the
equipment being guarded while it is on the ground so we
provided that service."
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