Visitor dies despite heroic rescue effort

Cayman’s police, fire and rescue personnel combined in an unorthodox attempt to save a young visitor from Indiana who collapsed in the heat of East End on Friday afternoon.  

Despite their best efforts, the 21-year-old man, who had arrived on Grand Cayman last week as a volunteer with the Blue Iguana Recovery programme, was pronounced dead Friday evening at the Cayman Islands Hospital.  

He was identified as Daniel Hamilton, a student at Purdue University. 

The rescue attempt included fire and ambulance workers trekking through about two miles of bush land while carrying stretchers and other equipment to reach the man, who was believed to be suffering from hyperthermia (heat stroke). The bush was so thick that emergency vehicles could not be driven into the area.  

Medical personnel stabilised the man while the Royal Cayman Islands Police helicopter was called out to attempt to pick him up.  

One problem: Nowhere to land.  

So firefighters used machetes and a chainsaw to clear trees and bush to create an area large enough for the chopper to touch down. The man was then carried to the helicopter to be transported to hospital.  

Chief Fire Officer Dennom Bodden said it was a great coordinated rescue effort and rescue crews pulled out all the stops to try to save the young man.  

“You get in those situations like that, you’ve got to be able to improvise,” Mr. Bodden said, adding that fire crews first thought of sending a ‘stoke basket’ into the bush so the man could be lifted up into the aircraft. However, the RCIPS helicopter does not have that capability, they were told, so another plan had to be arranged.  

Cayman Islands Emergency Medical Services Director Stephen Duval was on board the RCIPS helicopter as it flew to the rescue scene. EMS personnel on the ground kept the man stabilised until he could be moved to the helicopter.  

“It was the first rescue we’d done together,” Mr. Duval said, referring to EMS crews and the police helicopter.  

Of all the rescue scenarios on the ground, the EMS director said this was just about the worst he could think of.  

“The rocks tear your shoes up, the bush tears your clothes up,” he said. “The heat was there, the terrain was there. If we’d had to carry the patient back to the ambulance, it would have been the worst-case scenario.”  

The RCIPS helicopter landed on the cricket pitch in George Town just after 4pm Friday. From there, the man was taken by ambulance to hospital.  

Health Services Authority Medical Director Dr. Greg Hoeksema confirmed the man died Friday at hospital. Despite the outcome, he said emergency medical personnel had performed to the utmost in the incident and had nothing to be ashamed of.  

“We’re very proud of our EMS crew, both those who responded to the scene and those who assisted on the helicopter,” Dr. Hoeksema said.  

Visitor working with iguanas 

Mr. Hamilton had been working with Cayman’s Blue Iguana Recovery Programme on Friday in East End when he collapsed. 

Programme Director Fred Burton declined to comment on Saturday.  

The programme began moving the blues to their new home in a protected East End reserve last year. Staff and volunteers have been trekking through the bush to set up the new site for the iguanas.  

Since there is no way to get vehicles into the area, the iguanas are moved in by staff and volunteers travelling on foot.  

Trekking to the new site, where terrain is suitable for iguanas but inhospitable to humans, is no easy task. It is a long way from any roads and is dominated by dry shrub land, much of it growing on sharp cliff rock, with dense stands of spiny Corato – Cayman’s unique agave – Maiden Plum, Manchineel and Lady Hair. Mr. Burton has previously said that some camping “in the rough” is required for those making the trip and caring for the iguanas.