Caution - Its Hot Out There!!

Rescue team warns of heat
By Chuck Mueller Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - BARSTOW When Steve Depue found the discarded helmet and gloves of a motorcyclist missing in the desert, he knew time was running out to find the man alive.

Three two-member crews from the Barstow Desert Rescue Squad had been tracking the Los Angeles area biker for nearly 12 hours north of Baker in the east Mojave Desert.

"When people become dehydrated, they often shed their clothes,' said Depue, commander of the all-volunteer squad. "That was a bad sign, and I was worried. I knew this cyclist was fatigued and disoriented.'

The searchers had been following a straight line of tracks south of Dumont Dunes for close to 15 hours.

"Just ahead, we found him,' Depue recalled. "He was lying still, barely breathing. His pulse was very weak.'

Depue's partner, emergency medical technician Rick Mascheck, radioed for medical assistance. Within 15 minutes, a California Highway Patrol helicopter landed nearby with a paramedic.

"But the victim stopped breathing, and we couldn't bring him around,' Depue said. "At first, we felt good that we had found him alive. When we lost him, we were deeply saddened.'

With the arrival of summer in the Mojave, people who venture into the desert backlands must take special precautions to avoid tragedy........

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