Jim buzzed the car several times, hoping that Pat would hear
the plane and get out and wave. But Pat never emerged. Meanwhile,
the four-wheeler ground party had been joined by a snow plow, but
the snow plow too could only founder in the snow. The ground party
literally had to abandon all vehicles and crawl along the top crust
of snow. Whenever they attempted to stand on the snow and walk, they’d
crash through the top crust and sink up to their armpits. Crawling
two miles was a daunting prospect, and one that might not even get
them to Pat’s vehicle. So Jim put in a call to the television stations,
asking if any of them had a helicopter in the area. One did, and it
was able to land near Pat’s car.
Jim intercepted the helicopter pilot’s transmission. They had found
the vehicle, the pilot said, but the man inside was dead.
Shock descended upon the four-wheelers of Denver. Pat was an experienced
driver, and it was determined later that he had correctly done everything
you are supposed to do in that situation. He was found wrapped in
a space blanket. He had a snow shovel which he used to remove the
snow from around the exhaust pipe of the car. He had lowered the window
two inches. Yet he had still died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Pat’s
death made us all painfully aware of our own vulnerability.
What
could be done? Jim Thurman and the other four-wheeling buddies of
Pat’s refused to let another winter pass without implementing a change.
And thus they came up with the idea for FEAT, drawing upon the memberships
of the four-wheel-drive clubs that made up the Colorado Association
of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc. Jim Thurman was named Chairman of the
newly formed FEAT. Pat’s widow, Linda, not only enthusiastically endorsed
FEAT, she is an active FEAT driver herself.
When Jim approached the Office of Emergency Preparedness with the
idea, the agency was ecstatic. FEAT could provide a vast pool of volunteer
four-wheelers and their vehicles at the drop of a hat, and was the
perfect solution to the awkward system that had been hastily formed
for snow emergencies.
Says Wanda Hand of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, “I can’t
tell you how much good FEAT does. Before they started, we never knew
who we were linking up with whom. Now we can keep tabs. But we also
know now that we are sending out experienced drivers: they know what
they’re doing and they know what their vehicles can do."
FEAT
is activated roughly three times a year, whenever there is a “substantial"
amount of snow—enough snow to keep two-wheel-drive vehicles off the
road. The Office of Emergency Preparedness then contacts Jim Thurman,
who notifies the presidents of the various 4WD clubs in the Colorado
Association of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc. The presidents of each club
call for volunteers from their membership rosters. Jim reports to
the Office of Emergency Preparedness and screens in-coming calls.
The City of Denver provides additional secretaries from other agencies
to answer phones. The television stations and radio stations broadcast
the telephone number for people in trouble to call.
The majority of the people needing transportation are nurses trying
to get to work. Generally there are a substantial number of minor
medical emergencies—diabetics without their insulin, dialysis patients
requiring dialysis that day, or home patients whose oxygen tanks are
nearly empty. Then there are usually several “Good Samaritan” runs.
These involve people who have found themselves in a predicament of
some kind. For example, a woman called from two miles outside of Boulder.
She had four children and no food in the house. she needed to get
to a grocery store. A FEAT driver was dispatched to her house, and
he took her to the grocery store.
Sometimes Jim will assign several four-wheelers directly to a hospital.
A busy hospital can keep a half dozen four-wheelers coming and going
all night—taking emergency patients home, picking up nurses and other
personnel and helping in countless other ways.
But
each snow storm brings something new. For example, an unusual request
came across the telex-type of telephone that is used exclusively by
people who are hearing impaired. The message was necessarily terse—it
gave an address and mentioned that someone needed medication right
away. The equipment at the Office of Emergency Preparedness did not
have the technology to return a message asking for more details, and
this was obviously a special case. So Jim dispatched Linda Turner
to the address. Linda is an experienced four-wheeler who also ice
races, and has kept up her four-wheeling interests since Pat’s death.
Linda was an excellent choice.
She arrived at the address to find the whole family was hearing
impaired and unable to communicate with her. However, they had prepared
a note for her before she arrived, explaining that one of them, a
hearing impaired woman, needed to return to her home where her medication
was.
Most people who are given rides have never been in a four-wheel-drive
vehicle before, as was the case with this woman, and they tend to
ride white-knuckled. Linda strapped them both into the CJ7, and the
passenger gripped the seat tightly. All went well, though, and Linda
was able to take the woman the two miles to her house and her medication
without incident.
Occasionally a FEAT driver will get stuck in the snow, and another
driver will be dispatched to help him get unstuck. In order to be
sure this doesn’t happen often, FEAT drivers play in snow in their
free time to gain experience. FEAT driver Paul Miklos says: “Playing in the snow helps you learn
your limitations, and your vehicle’s limitations" That experience
helps them when they are dispatched to an assignment for FEAT. They
recommend divers always carry chains, a snow
shovel, C.B. and blanket with them. These have always been recommended
for out-of-town winter trips, but FEAT drivers recommend drivers do
it in the city as well.
As for driving technique, they say a driver should use finesse
on the gas pedal. Easy does it is the rule, and go light on the gas.
One mistake inexperienced snow drivers make is following other vehicles
too closely. John Crump says, “It takes just as much time to stop
a four-wheel drive on ice and snow as a two-wheel drive. Keep your
distance.”
FEAT drivers advise inexperienced snow drivers to stay in the ruts
that have already been carved in the snow; you’ll have more traction
on the packed snow. If you do find yourself stuck, whatever you do,
don't give a lot of gas to the wheels. “Rock” the vehicle back and
forth, slowly accelerating forward a few inches, then throw the vehicle
in reverse and slowly go backwards a few inches. After you do this
several times, you might have packed the snow enough to get going
again.
One night Jim received a call from a woman who was frantic. Her
husband had suffered a heart attack several days before and she had
stayed by his side in intensive care at a hospital across town. She
had promised him she would not leave him. But eventually his condition
deteriorated to the point where he could no longer recognize her and
he didn’t realize she was there. Then he fell into a deep sleep. At
this point she felt it was safe to go home for a few hours sleep and
a change of clothes.
When she awoke, a vicious blizzard had struck, leaving her car
buried in her driveway.
Then the hospital called and said her husband had taken a turn for the worse. When he found out
she was gone he became so upset, he had to be restrained.
She was desperate to get to the hospital. She had investigated
every possibility she could think of, but to no avail. Then she heard
the telephone number on her radio for the Office of Emergency Preparedness,
and called. They connected her with Jim, and he gave her number to
FEAT driver Tim Alexander.
Tim left immediately. “Snow was halfway up the radiator,” said
Tim. It took them two and a half hours to make it across metropolitan
Denver to the hospital. When they arrived, the woman tried adamantly
to pay Tim, but he would not accept it.
“That’s the best part of being a FEAT driver,” said Tim. “When
you see their genuine gratitude, it makes it all worth while."
Dave Darland agreed, and added, “You forget what it’s like not
to have a four-wheel drive. A night of driving with FEAT brings it
all home to you real quick.”
Once when John Crump was taking three nurses to work, one asked
him, “It’s Christmas Eve, and you’re away from your family out in
the cold driving all night. Why do you do it?”
“I drive for FEAT for two reasons:’ he replied. “One, I feel good
about myself when I can contribute something to the community. And
two, I’d have to drive seventy miles up into the mountains to play
in snow as good as this!”
Copyright 1990 Off-Road Magazine
Used By Permission
