The Mounties' Coats by Bob Ploss

I was at my wit's end. There were a million loose ends to tie up and the barge was supposed to pull out at 8 am. The job was at the far eastern end of Powell Lake, up the Powell - Daniels drainages. I had to load 600,000 trees, 28 planters, five crew cabs, fuel drums, groceries, a harried cook, personal vehicles, and cavorting dogs. The whole circus was going into the bush with no road access for about three weeks. I had never run a show this complex before and I was having one hell of a tough day. It was about to get a whole lot worse.

We got everything and everyone on the barge. In those days, 1982, no one was too concerned about a crew riding on a barge. It was a long slow tow up the lake, about 40 km. It would take 4 or 5 hours. My foreman, Leon Pendleton, and I caught a ride with the MacMillan Bloedel checkers so we could scout for a camp site. Powell Lake is a typical glacial fjord, steep rock walls and deep, clear, cold water. It was a beautiful crisp spring day.

About half way up the lake we spotted someone standing at the base of the cliffs, waving a life jacket. We pulled into shore to discover a man and a woman who had just survived a plane crash. They had tried to land their small float plane on the lake to rinse off the sea salt. The dead calm surface had caused a misjudgement of height. The plane nosed over, flipped forward, filled with water, and sank. The pilot was badly injured. He had a broken leg, for sure, but he had hit his face hard against something, and his neck was swollen and very tender—we were afraid of spinal injuries. His very plucky wife had pulled him out of the sinking plane, and towed him to shore.

I was the First Aid person for my crew. I had an "A" class first aid ticket and 8 years experience with emergencies and injuries. But this was a whole new level and all my carefully packed first aid gear was on the barge. Leon had first aid training, too. We quickly wrapped up the two cold wet people in all the coats and blankets we had on board—shock and hypothermia were our first concerns. We got on the boat's radio to the M&B Stillwater office. I carefully explained our situation and ordered a long list of special equipment—neck brace, spine board, leg splints, basket stretcher, a million bandages and 200 blankets.

30 minutes later a Beaver Float plane arrived with two Mounties and not one single piece of first aid equipment. We got over our shock and Leon and I quickly worked out a plan. The Mounties had lovely big coats. I asked them to take them off and, to their credit, they quickly did. We wrapped our aviators in nice dry RCMP coats. Then I asked the Mounties to take the M&B boat over to a float house down the bay and bring back a door and all the bedding they could find.

A broken leg is no fun, but every First Aid person dreads treating spinal injuries. Screw up a broken leg treatment, and your patient has a longer, more painful recovery. Screw up a spinal cord treatment and you put your patient in a wheel chair for life. We had to transport our injured pilot down over slippery rocks, onto the moving float, through the door, rotate 90 degrees, and anchor him in the plane for a takeoff and landing, all the while keeping his spine and head in perfect alignment and motionless.

We tore up a half dozen blankets into 6" wide strips and placed the door on top of the strips. Then Leon and I directed the six people present to slide their hands under the pilot's back. In a coordinated fashion, we lifted him onto the door. With rolled up blankets for padding and braces, we strapped him very firmly to the door. Very slowly and deliberately, we carried our door man down and into the plane. The entry was especially dicey, as we had to tilt him on edge to get through the door.

They both made full recoveries in hospital. We got a short article in the Powell River paper and a thank you note from the RCMP. The rest of the treeplanting contract was a breeze after that start. Leon went on to a long career in EMT work in Alberta. I will always fondly remember the day I got to disrobe two Mounties.