HONEA PATH – A cold evening and a short
walk into the woods may have ended tragically for an elderly Honea Path man
Sunday night.
But, thanks to
emergency workers and a $21,000 thermal imaging camera purchased a little over a
year ago, a tragedy was averted.
“That thermal imaging
camera has been worth its weight in gold,” said Fire Chief Jimmy Smith on
Tuesday, adding that it’s value now is
priceless since it has
helped save a life.
“It wouldn’t have been
long before he would have been dead in that weather,” said Smith.
The weather was cold,
with rain and snow both falling at times.
A brisk wind made the 30-degree temperatures feel even colder and
increased the risk of
hypothermia.
A resident of
the Maples was discovered missing about 9 p.m., according to Nancy Fleming,
director of nursing. The Maples is
an assisted living facility on Wildwood Drive, near Heyward Avenue and North Main Street.
The 79-year-old man
had been at the facility since 1998 and had only wandered away one time more
than five years ago.
He had only been gone
about 30 minutes when staff members realized he was missing, said Ms.
Fleming. After a quick search of
the building, the staff called
911.
“I kept hoping we’d
find him in the building,” said Ms. Fleming.
Police officers,
firefighters and EMS workers were on the scene within minutes, said Chief
Smith. Also called to assist was
the Anderson County Sheriff’s canine unit, along with the Anderson City
Technical Rescue Unit.
“We pulled out the
thermal imaging camera from the start.
It shows the heat in images such as fires and people,” said Smith. “We found five or six rabbits at first,
then we saw a long object that was giving off heat on the ground.”
Apparently, the man
had fallen on the ground in heavy underbrush about 30-40 yards away from The
Maples in a wooded area. He was
barely visible even with flashlights.
“It would have been
terribly hard to see him like that if we hadn’t had
the camera,” said
Smith. “He had wandered off, become
disoriented and had fallen. He was
talking but he just couldn’t get up.”
Chief Smith said the
man was covered in scratches from the underbrush and may have suffered some mild
hypothermia. He was taken by
Honea Path EMS to
Anderson Area Medical Center where he was treated and released. He returned to The Maples by 2 a.m.
“They were wonderful,
the police, the fire, everybody was wonderful,” said Ms. Fleming, grateful that
the man had been found safely.
Smith said the thermal
imaging camera had been used on numerous occasions to locate hot spots in fires,
its main purpose when first
purchased. Two more payments are yet to be made on
the camera.
The expense, he said, was well
worth it considering it may have saved a life this
time.