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NPS team answers the call for a rescue on top of Mt. Alava

Gate at road going up Mt. Alava
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Family members of a man from Fagasa rescued by the Search and Rescue team from the National Park of American Samoa praised the brave and dedicated service by the team for responding to the urgent request to rescue a man on the top of Mt. Alava late Thursday night after the DPS — Department of Public Safety — said it was unable to help.

A man from Fagasa was lost and his family including people from the village were searching for him last Thursday. It was around midnight last Thursday night, the man was finally found on the top of Mt. Alava and the family then contacted the Department of Public Safety (DPS) main office in Fagatogo for assistance to bring the man down from the mountaintop. However, DPS replied that it couldn’t help the family.

Samoa News was told that the man’s two young sons and other youth from Fagasa went up to Mt. Alava searching for the missing man around 11p.m and found him lying on the grass behind the KVZK-TV post on Mt. Alava.

They then went back down and informed the family that they had found their dad. That’s when the family contacted DPS for help.

The family said it contacted DPS twice for help and the Watch Commander informed the family that they couldn’t offer any assistance because their shift was short of manpower. The watch commander further told the family that they only have one male officer who is guarding the inmates locked inside the Temporary Holding Cell, and the rest of the shift were female officers.

In the meantime, the man’s family had also decided to use social media to reach out to anyone who could find and rescue the man.

“If you’re in Fagasa right now, please my dad is allegedly lost in Mt. Alava and my brothers and few other are currently searching for him. If you can go up there to help search for him.” This was the message from the man’s daughter appealing to the public to help find her dad on Facebook.

Fortunately, a member of the National Park of American Samoa, Search and Rescue Team residing on the west side of the island (Tutuila) saw the message on Facebook and immediately responded to the request for help. He contacted members of his rescue team and informed them about the situation and instructed them to be prepared with all the necessary equipment needed for the task.

He picked up members of his team using the NPS vehicle and headed up to the location in Fagasa where they met up with family members and people of Fagasa. They were briefed about the incident, and the NPS rescue team did not waste any time before responding.

They packed their equipment and drove their vehicle up — heading to the top of Mt. Alava. However, due to the slippery road up to Mt. Alava, the NPS rescue team left their truck half way up and continued on foot.

The NPS rescue team reached the top of Mt. Alava and found the man lying on the grass. They quickly carried him down to their vehicle before they drove him down to the main entrance of the trail/ road. When the rescue team and the man arrived at the entrance, an Emergency (EMS) unit was already waiting, and transported him to the LBJ Medical Hospital for further treatment.

The daughter of the lost man posted a status on Facebook saying, “Thank you everyone for trying to help we really appreciate it. Our dad is found and is slowly making his way back to safety at this moment. Faafeta mo talosaga ma alofaaga. God bless you all.”

People of Fagasa who spoke to Samoa News regarding the incident praised the effort by the NPS Search and Rescue team for stepping up to take the task after DPS officers refused to help, despite the fact that this is their responsibility for the community.

One woman from Fagasa said she did not know that there is a special Search and Rescue Team from the NPS who can respond to emergencies like what happened to the man from their village.

In her opinion for future incidents like this, DPS and NPS should work together whenever anyone needs help. It’s just the matter of communication between leaders of these two groups to work together and offer assistance for the community.

Samoa News notes that such search & rescue responsibilities usually fall to the Fire Department, a division of DPS. Contacting NPS for help would have probably been part of their protocol as such, due to the trail being a part of the US National Park that winds up the mountains of the villages of Fagasa and Pago Pago.