Heat illness claimed a SoCal man’s life at Death Valley National Park, the second such death this year.
According to a press release issued on Monday by the National Park Service, bystanders saw a man stumbling as he returned from the Natural Bridge Trail, which is about one-mile roundtrip, on Aug. 1.
The bystanders offered to help the man, identified as 57-year-old Peter Hayes Robino of Duarte, but he refused; witnesses said his responses did not make sense.
After declining assistance, Robino got into his car and drove off a steep 20-foot embankment at the edge of the Natural Bridge Trail parking lot, NPS said.
“The car rolled over and airbags deployed,” officials said. “A bystander left to call 911 [while] other bystanders helped Robino walk back to the parking lot and provided shade.”
The press release states that National Park Service emergency responders received the call for help at exactly 3:50 p.m. and arrived at 4:10 p.m.
Robino was breathing until just before park rangers arrived, NPS stated.
“NPS EMTs started CPR and moved Robino into the air-conditioned ambulance, [but] he was declared dead at 4:42 p.m.,” the parks service said.
An autopsy conducted by the Inyo County Coroner found that Robino died due to hyperthermia, or overheating. According to park officials, the nearby Furnace Creek weather station recorded a high temperature of 119 degrees that afternoon.
Symptoms of heat illness include confusion, irritability and lack of coordination, which corresponds with Robino’s incoherence when interacting with bystanders.
“My condolences go out to Mr. Robino’s family and friends,” said Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who was one of the EMTs who responded to the call on Aug. 1. “His death serves as a reminder not to underestimate the dangers of extreme heat.”
Park rangers at Death Valley National Park remind summer visitors that hiking after 10 a.m. at low elevations is not recommended. Those who do decide to go outside are advised to drink plenty of water and eat salty snacks, but the best way to avoid the heat is to stay in or near air conditioning, NPS said.
Robino’s death follows the death of a motorcyclist who was riding through Death Valley National Park on July 6. According to NPS, the man was part of a group of six motorcyclists, three of whom were transported almost 20 miles by good Samaritans to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.
One of the men transported by good Samaritans lost consciousness and was transported 62 miles by ambulance to a hospital in Pahrump, Nevada; due to the high temperatures (the preliminary high temperature on July 6 was over 125 degrees, NPS said) it was not safe for a medical helicopter to fly to the scene, despite a request from park officials.
After being taken to Pahrump, the man was flown to a larger hospital in Las Vegas.