this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2024
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According to a National Park Service news release, the 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 123-degree heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the desert ground. The result: third-degree burns.

"The skin was melted off his foot," said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce. "The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range."

Unable to get out on his own and in extreme pain, the man and his family recruited other park visitors to help; together, the group carried him to the sand dunes parking lot, where park rangers assessed his injuries.

Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can't generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Who wears flip flops to the desert?!

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

Terrible fates that I'd never considered for $100.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (4 children)

The best part is no matter what health insurance he has (or doesn't have), that's gonna be expensive as fuck by the end of the year.

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[–] [email protected] 231 points 5 months ago (16 children)

I feel like if you go to Death Valley, in July, when we're having record-breaking temps all over the world, and you wear flip flops...look, I'm not saying anyone deserves to lose a foot just because they're making stupid choices, but maybe like, a toe. Because man, that is wildly stupid.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Death Valley

To be fair, it is right there in the name.

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[–] [email protected] 117 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can't generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.

TIL.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago

Legit, I did not know this until I read this article, either.

[–] [email protected] 100 points 5 months ago

Death Valley: We mean it.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

So do we just need to close death valley or require permits in the summer or something? The safety issues seem to be compounding with the extreme heat.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I assume you have to pay a fee to enter Death Valley National Park, and like every National Park I assume the rangers at the entrance and signage all throughout warn you of potential dangers. You can easily get yourself in trouble at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, or Big Bend National Parks, for example, if you don't take the risks seriously and make poor decisions.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Sure but those other parks.. they aren't called "Deathstone" or "Death Mountain" or "Big Death"...

I feel like Death Valley is being very frank with you on the matter.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849-1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Although only one of the group members died here, they all assumed that the valley would be their grave.

I bet more people have died at each of the other 3 parks than at Death Valley NP. Maybe there's data out there on that somewhere

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Interestingly, the park service have a very nice dashboard to look at this:

https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/mortality-data.htm

However, it doesn't give you the deaths per count of visitors.

This article claims Denali, to be the top park in deaths per capita.

https://www.backpacker.com/survival/the-10-most-dangerous-national-parks-in-america/

It looks like Death Valley is up there, but not the highest, due to motor vehicle accidents. This makes sense since going to death valley ends up just being a lot of time in the car.

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

For those of you who don’t know Fahrenheit:

123F->50.5C

170F-180F-> 77-82C

200F->93C

109F -> 43C

[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago (9 children)

For those of you who only know temperatures based on internal temperature of cooked meats:

123F-danger zone of most meats, some bacteria will continue to grow at these temperatures

170F- all meats including ground poultry are safe to eat at this temperature, but most people would call steak way overdone at this temperature

200F- start of 6 pack number 2 for cooking brisket, depending on what texture you're going for you might be able to pull it or drink another beer

109F- you trying to kill someone with that burger?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Thank you, it all makes sense now.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 5 months ago (3 children)
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