Police open command center at Horseshoe Bend

Officers help with hikers in distress, direct traffic.

Posted

PAGE – Page Police officers early this week will be retrieving the police department’s mobile command center that has been parked in the Horseshoe Bend parking lot for the past two weeks.


The Page Police Department’s mobile command center was parked in the Horseshoe Bend parking lot because of the massive influx of visitors to the Horseshoe overlook, according to Page Police Detective Terry TerEick.


“Just the influx of tourists out there,” TerEick explained. “We have city employees on scene every day now and it provides (them) with a place where they can go into an air-conditioned facility for a few minutes to get out of the heat.”


The command center is equipped with an emergency telephone and bottles of chilled water that city employees on duty can hand out to visitors who appear to be in distress.
“If there is someone who is having a heat-related (health) issue, a city employee can let the person go in there until ambulance arrives because it’s cool in the inside,” TerEick said.


But now the command center will be brought back to town for the Fourth of July celebration. The unit will be taken back to the Horseshoe parking lot – after the celebration – so that it can be used further.


Normally, TerEick says, law enforcement command centers are used in the fog and chaos of a critical incident, such as an active shooter, terrorist attack, or natural disaster. The command center is vital for saving lives and mitigating damage to property.


In this case, city employees used it every day to take shelter from the extreme, dangerous heat over the last several days. 

 
“Visitors see it as a place where they can come in if they need any kind of help,” TerEick said. “It’s (also) been good for lost and found items. And … just a visual presence of a police vehicle (command center) out there tends to make people act a little more orderly.”


He added, “It gives more authority to the city employees that are out there, just by having a command center out there. The employees are getting a little bit of pushback from visitors. So, it helps with that.”


Mayor Bill Diak says volunteers every day kept watch over the parking lot, where they directed traffic and directed the charter busses to a designated parking area, which is a concern as a consequence of the recent death of a 64-year-old Chinese woman who was hit by a charter bus in late May.


“So, we’ve got two people out there directing traffic at this time,” Diak said. “There’s one at the front and they’re (both) in orange vests so they don’t get run over. Then there’s one at the back (who) makes sure that the busses are doing what we ask.”


Diak says the command center may read “Page Public Safety Mobile Command Center” on the outside but that does not mean there are police officers deployed there.


“So, there are no police present there other than should there be a call for additional traffic control, an accident,” Diak explained. “Same with emergency medical services and … Park Service, which has a volunteer out there. The (volunteer) is in a yellow vest and he (rides) a Six Wheel Gator. If he sees people (who) are in need, he will take them water. He also mentions to (visitors) who go on the (short) hike (to the overlook) that they should probably not wear thongs and that they need more than one bottle of water.”  


Diak continued, “Besides that, he’s usually at the top of the hill from time to time and if he sees somebody (who) is having some issues, he gives them a ride. Normally, he would take them to the command center, get them inside and give them water, then check back on them (after a few minutes). And if they need further assistance, he’ll have an ambulance dispatched to them.”


As the heat rises in the Page-Lake Powell area, various heat-related health issues also become a concern. These can include dehydration, hyperthermia and heat cramps, as well as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Jennifer Fenter, spokeswoman for Banner Health, says Page Hospital is seeing a growing number of emergency department visits due to heat-related illnesses.  


“Yes, there is an extreme influx in cases related to heat illness,” Fenter told the Chronicle. “But there is an increase and that’s likely due to a lot of tourism as well as the higher temperatures in the area.”


Fenter says she doesn’t have the exact number of patients seen in the hospital’s emergency department for heat or dehydration related illness.