A Belgian tourist suffered third-degree burns on his feet during a visit to Death Valley National Park over the weekend.
According to the National Park Service, the 42-year-old man was taking a walk on the sand dunes when he lost his flip-flops. The air temperature at the time, officials said, was around 123 degrees and the ground temperature would have been “much hotter.”
I hear he's worried that now he won't be able to go to Yellowstone and get some bison selfies.
ReplyDeleteYup, he’d no doubt attempt to “pet the fluffy cows” in Custer SP SoDak, too.
DeleteLost his flip flops. I think he was in trouble before losing them
ReplyDeleteDaryl
A 42-year-old in flip flops...
ReplyDeleteI’m 51 and wear flip flops daily??
DeleteI live in Florida and wear flip flops daily. I wouldn’t wear them in Death Valley, though, because I’m not an idiot.
DeleteBet the soles of his feet resemble their famous waffles
ReplyDeleteHe should have read the part where the Shoshone call it “Tomesha… Ground afire.”
ReplyDeleteFlip flops? Where did this guy think he was - the White House?
ReplyDeleteGives new meaning to the term "Hot Foot".
ReplyDeleteHercule Poirot: "I am not a French Twit. I am a Belgian Twit."
ReplyDeleteGreat, now we get a new warning label/sign not to wear flip-flops when hiking in Death Valley NP.
ReplyDeleteApparently, the sidewalks in Belgium never get hot enough to fry eggs on.... it they did, maybe he'd have had a clue.... but he didn't have a clue, so here we are. Next stop, not Bison in Yellowstone... but parboiling his tootsies to finish the job. Or, if he's lucky... he can just stand around and get blown up. Tsk, Tsk.
ReplyDelete>>Third-degree (full thickness) burns
ReplyDeleteThird-degree burns destroy the epidermis and dermis. Third-degree burns may also damage the underlying bones, muscles, and tendons. The burn site appears white or charred. There is no sensation in the area since the nerve endings are destroyed<<
https://stanfordhealthcare.org/medical-conditions/skin-hair-and-nails/burns/stages.html
Thanks but no thanks. I have burn scars on my face from when I was a toddler, I have no desire to see what would have been worse. And that's coming from someone who never really shied away from gore since I was in my 30s.
DeleteI wore those stupid flipflops for too many years & I'm paying for it now.
ReplyDeletePerhaps someone with more knowledge can enlighten? The article says that medical helicopter could not land due to the heat and they had to remove him by auto-ambulance to a higher elevation where they could land safely. This reduced the temperature from 123 degrees to 109 degrees. As I would imagine that the interchange would happen in 5 minutes or less to load the evacuee, as moving expeditiously is their purpose, what would the heat affect in a short time like this? Or is an air-density issue or like that simply results in a no-go zone that could result in failure as opposed to a time-in-affect matter? I would have presumed a helicopter out of Las Vegas would have been ordered with any relevant options that might not have been needed in Minneapolis.
ReplyDeleteDeath Valley is below sea level and 123° (f) is pretty darn warm, over twice what constitutes a Standard Day.
DeleteStandard day parameters
For Pilots: At sea level, Altimeter:29.92 in/Hg at 15 °C (59 °F) The "standard day" model of the atmosphere is defined at sea level, with certain present conditions such as temperature and pressure.
To tack on to Rob's comment, yes, it's a matter of air density. The hotter the air, the more difficult it is to get a plane or helicopter in the air. If you want to see it in action, you can hit youtube to see videos of planes barely making it off the runway.
DeleteThank you Rob and Phillip. I had known anecdotally about the difficulty American helicopters forces had experienced supporting troops during the long campaign in Afghanistan due to the thinness of the air at elevation. Denser air being a problem at below sea level, but also being magnified by temperature, is in interesting turn-about. Thank you for your instruction.
DeleteI figure the flip flops melted.
ReplyDeleteSitting here and shaking my head, I live in the Phoenix Metro Area. Every year, the search and rescue people have to haul turistas off the local trails, and there are always some that don't make it. There is a reason Death Valley has that moniker.
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago while working in my yard I stepped on a nail and didn't do anything about it, having recovered from earlier instances. Not this time, and gangrene set in. I had to have emergency surgery with removal of part of the right foot.
ReplyDeleteI still can't bear to look at the wound area; seeing the missing part of the foot creeps me out enough. But then, I've never had any tolerance for cinematic gore either, having seen a few people killed in motorcycle accidents.(the edge of a regular STOP sign makes a great guillotine...)