Tiffiny Durham
Interpretation Park Ranger
National Park Service
712-281-2135
Abstract-Heat related injuries and falls are sometimes more widely recognized by the visiting public as threats, but visitors often forget some of the other environmental dangers associated with exploring National Park Service (NPS) units located in the arid west. The intensity of the sun rays can combine with high heat temperatures to create the conditions for life-threatening situations. In the western United States, thunderstorms can develop with no advanced warning. Lightning can strike any place and at any time, leaving behind a trail of debris and resulting in injury or death for anyone caught unaware in its path. Precipitation that often accompanies lightning storms can make its way down the canyon walls, resulting in sudden increases in water-levels and flow.This creates flash floods, which have the ability to wipe out everything in their path. These are normal occurrences in many of the NPS units in the western United States, but for unsuspecting visitors, they can be a life-threatening surprise.
In 2015, the units operated by the NPS received over 300 million visitors, demonstrating an increase of almost five percent when compared to the previous year. With a greater influx of visitors entering the National Parks, the chances of individuals suffering injuries or fatalities from weather related events likewise increases. While working at Zion National Park as an Interpretive Ranger, I have seen people impacted by lightning, leaving them injured, and on occasion, dead. Visitors are requiring medical intervention due to heat related illness almost every summer in Zion National Park, and the park has had multiple flash food fatalities over the years from visitors being caught off guard.
Zion National Park is not alone in the number of visitors affected by environmental hazards. A majority of the NPS units currently lack a consistent method to communicate weather information and safety warnings to their various audiences. While signage is an important part of any information dissemination, in today’s world of social media and internet contacts, it proves to be limited in its outreach scope to those who stop to read the signs.
Since technology and social media are a central aspect of most new forms of communication, one possibility is the use of online educational materials. An example of this would be a digital slide-show that is aimed at audiences ranging from middle-school students to retirees. This slide-show could provide a fun and creative way for visitors to learn about safety in regards to heat, lightning, and flash floods. This program could help to educate visitors about standard weather safety precautions and provide safety tips that might save their lives if they are ever caught in hazardous situations when exploring the more remote reaches of the NPS units. This slide show would have the option to be broadly applicable in multiple parks and, in time, multiple languages. Along with providing immediate safety tips for their visit to the park, visitors may also pick up important information that they can take with them back home to help educate others beyond the borders of the NPS.
Keywords: Lightning, Heat, Flash floods, Weather Safety, National Park Service, Digital weather slide- show
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