Southern Utah University interns recognized for helping rescue hiker in Arizona

KANAB, Arizona — A summer afternoon on the Utah-Arizona border comes with unrelenting, piercing heat that demands every precaution be taken to avoid falling victim to it.

If not properly prepared and hydrated, heat exhaustion can become a real and potentially life-threatening issue, especially in remote areas.

That's the exact situation three college students participating in Southern Utah University's Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative faced in July when, while conducting routine permit inspections for The Wave trail, they encountered a 67-year-old woman suffering from heat exhaustion and in need of immediate help.

Last week, the three interns received the "Life Saver Award" during the Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative's end-of-season celebration.

"July's hot, and when you're out on The Wave, I mean it's hot and it's sandstone, and so it bakes like an oven," Brooklyn Bauer, a business management major at SUU, said.

Bauer, who was interning as a wildlife technician with the Bureau of Land Management's Kanab Field Office at the time, said the woman's family was doing everything right to aid her, but it was evident she hadn't prepared for the intensity of the heat and hike.

"She hadn't been drinking near enough water for how hot it was that day. Every time she stood up, her heart started racing, and her blood pressure would just shoot through the roof," Jake McDonald, a student at Mohave College in Colorado City, Arizona, told KSL.

Bauer, McDonald and University of Wyoming student Conner Buchanan jumped into action, gathering cooling towels and electrolytes from a hidden ranger stash nearby.

After providing shade and water, McDonald, who was working as a recreation intern with the Bureau or Land Management's Kanab Field Office, contacted the Coconino County Sheriff's Office to request a search and rescue helicopter.

After arriving on the scene, a storm rolled in and exit by helicopter was no longer an option. With the help of responding paramedics, McDonald was able to walk the woman safely back to the parking lot, where she could be treated further by emergency personnel.

All three of the students credited their internship experience with equipping them with the skills required to jump in to help without missing a beat.

"(Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative), they provide us with an emergency response plan and they just really prepare us ... to handle the situation safely and calmly," Bauer said.

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