The pleasant morning weather conditions quickly gave way to soaring heat after noon time as the temperature soared to around 100 degrees. During the challenging hike down, with only 10 minutes before we were back to the vans, one of the youth passed out... then a few other youths started feeling faint from heat exhaustion and had to lay down. It was quickly becoming a serious situation. A nearby trickling waterfall became our source for cooling down overheating kids while everyone started sharing their remaining drinking water. We possibly didn't need to, but we couldn't take any chances so we called 911 as we continued to cool down the students. Within a few minutes a small army of Rangers and emergency personnel arrived at the bottom of the mountain. One Ranger hiked up to assess the situation and help the one youth that had passed out in any way possible. By this time we had already cooled him down and hydrated him and he was sitting up answering questions. Over the next 25 minutes everyone was able to hike down on their own. Once at the bottom, the paramedics spent the next hour observing the overheated students while cooling them off and rehydrating them. No more intervention was needed and everyone was cleared to return to camp. On the way back to camp we stopped for snacks like ice cream. Three hours after the incident everyone was all smiles. Our special thanks to the emergency personnel who came and helped. They regularly see all types of emergencies in the mountains and have an average response time of only 5 minutes. We thank God for them, the youth leaders who who helped care for kids, our staff and volunteers who worked exhaustively all day, and for a perfectly placed trickling waterfall. Everyone was back to normal in a few hours. Praise God!
