Confusion Hampered Search For James Kim And Family

[thesidekickcat]

I am so ashamed of our state and county search efforts being so hampered by miscommunication, even at times no cross communication, between agencies!!! I am not letting off the federal government either since the BLM was part of problem with gates not being shut and locked on Nov 1st as employees were directed to do but they decided on own not to do it and didn't tell their superiors they didn't do their job and why not, and should be fired in my opinion!!!

Today's Sunday Oregonian has a long heartbreaking article on the search and what went wrong!!!

Perhaps if there had been a coordinated approach, with full communication, to the search, the outcome would have been complete success and everyone of the family would be alive now!!!

Again I am so ashamed of my state's failure!! You would think after all the hoopla and special training days since 9/11, that this would have been solved not only for major disastors, but personal ones like this. What a waste of money if the agencies don't change the way they operate! I don't know if other states have same problems, but suspect they do. Time, way past time, that they figure out how to get all the information, tips, etc to all groups working on a search etc. Time to get away from governmental agencies, and all the various departments within them, building fiefdoms of power and unwilling to change that structure to even save lives. This has been reviewed, trained for, money and time spent on it over and over again....how many times must they do it before they get the message to work together? How many times must things go wrong, and investigations afterwards point out what, when, and how it happened before they admit they need to seriously get it to work right no matter whose little power trip gets skewered??? Sorry but am just heartbroken over the what ifs and if onlys, and to know the outcome might have been one of total success if only....!!

Here is the link to the Oregonian article...well worth reading if only to pressure your own local and state and federal agencies in your own area to learn from our botched search job.

The Oregonian normally only has free access to their online articles for 14 days.

Confusion hampered search for Kims

Also here are links to both the G4 memorial thread, and the Leoville one which has access to many many TTV pictures/video clips of James Kim working for CFH and SS.

G4 James Kim memorial thread

Leoville's James Kim memorial thread

Pat

God bless everyone

[garmanma]

I hope the family sues theirs butts

Mark

[isteve]

Suing will not bring James back. The only winners will be the lawyers. I do think the people that failed to do there jobs should be held accountable. But there are many things that went wrong starting with james driving a southern Calif. car in the backwoods of Oregon in the winter.

The authorities should learn from there mistakes, maybe even close dangerous roads in bad weather. Make plans on what to do in case this happens again. We should learn to always plan our routes when we travel and tell someone of our plans.

I think the best thing that could happen from this terrible episode would be that we make sure this doesn't happen again. I would hate to think James died just to build some lawyer a new house.

[martymas]

hi thesidekickcat

that is sad news

for any one let alone james

was a fan of his in those days

and i used to email him

for certain tips

pertaining to new gear

really sad

do you think the powers to be were to complacent

marty

[thesidekickcat]

Hello Marty,

I don't know what the problem is with why they can't or wont communicate all tips and info to each other, other than they just don't want to do it. Stubborn refusal to share information outside own group? Incompetence? Unwilling to do what's right?Perhaps the person(s) can't see the big picture or unwilling to for whatever reason. I just don't know. And the worst thing is I don't think this agency sharing information problem will get solved anytime soon.

This refusal to share information, and anything else that would benefit group or effort, often happens in the work place, especially in big companies, and I know it happens in all levels of government. Doubt it is only our country either.

Just seems like it's human nature to hold onto information in own little cliques or to build little fiefdoms of power, possibly done to seem more important than really are in the organization???

But when it comes to it a loss of life such as this case, I can't imagine how those people can live with their conscience. Although they may try to excuse it by blaming others, they must know in their hearts their own part in the tragic loss of life. Not to take away from mistakes the Kim family made, but when the rescue people also make major mistakes because of lack of communication...so sad an outcome from the totality of it all.

I also don't think a lawsuit will help any, only spread the blame around, instead of narrowing it down to specific instances so that people will have to take responsibility for their own actions/inactions.

As I have said on G4 thread, there is alot we can do personally to better prepare for any trip, even a commute to work that can turn ugly, by stocking up a car with survival gear. And every trip we take we have choices, and every choice has consequences that are not always what we intend. So plan ahead, learn what it takes to survive on own if need be, pack a survival kit, and every decision you make work through the what ifs, and don't be afraid of spending extra time/money to stay safe if trip plans get messed up or changed...whether that means getting a motel along the way instead of pushing onward to some reserved place further on, or backtracking if you miss an exit. Plan and make decisions on everything as if your life depended on what you do....because it does!!!

Pat

God bless everyone

[blim]

Wow! What an eyeopening article, Pat. Thanks for sharing that one. At least there was some uplifting moments from the volunteer "ordinary citizen" efforts in the hunt for the family.

Liz

[thesidekickcat]

And here folks is an article from our Oregonian tv columnist, that adds perspective to this whole tragedy and why we became so wrapped up in the unfolding events.

Also I want to add that many many people and organizations and government agency people here in Oregon and around the country freely gave of their time and money to search for the Kims. Most did the best they could to find them. Only a few missed the mark of doing all they should have when they should have. I should have emphasized (sp?) that point earlier. The same with all the groups working on Mt Hood, many many volunteers and professionals in both cases doing whatever it takes to find the lost, hopefully alive.

It was posted the 12th, so wont be freely available for long.

Kim tragedy shows our best imputses

Pat

God bless everyone

[martymas]

yes it happens in all countrys

it is tragic when i life is lost

more so for us

because we knew james like a friend

he use to come on my screen every day

and i looked forward to his

showing new gear

may be we can all learn from this

tragedy .thanks for the article

marty

[sethook]

I just hope they don't start finding blame with the searchers at Mt. Hood when that operation is complete. An autopsy is always more accurate then a diagnosis.

[garmanma]

I know a lawsuit won't bring him back and I'm sure there were all sorts of caring and resposible people involved. But the different city, county, and state agencies won't even sit down to figure out something better unless someone puts a gun to their heads

Mark

Edited December 18, 2006 by garmanma

[mikex]

/me donning a flame suit

Suing will do no good. The lawyers make money. The family looks greedy.

We, everyone, you, me....all need to take responsibility for our actions. From tossing a cigarette butt out the window, trekking through the snow, talking on a cell phone while driving. We are humans, we make mistakes. But we should be smart enough to learn from others mistakes. Don't think that you can drive fast just because the guys racing Formula1 can handle the same streets.

Many times the dumb things we do can be linked to something we watched pros do. Look at all the you tube videos of stupid tricks.

Yes there were plenty of mistakes made. I'll bet if we could talk to those agencies in a year or two thing will have changed, not much but a little. And if the media was not pushing their cameras to the faces of podunk officials we would have not heard of this for a while, meaning that as good and bad.

We all have a responsibility to our families to not be stupid. Some of us fail sometimes.

M

/end rant

[garmanma]

/me donning a flame suit

Suing will do no good. The lawyers make money. The family looks greedy.

We, everyone, you, me....all need to take responsibility for our actions. From tossing a cigarette butt out the window, trekking through the snow, talking on a cell phone while driving. We are humans, we make mistakes. But we should be smart enough to learn from others mistakes. Don't think that you can drive fast just because the guys racing Formula1 can handle the same streets.

Many times the dumb things we do can be linked to something we watched pros do. Look at all the you tube videos of stupid tricks.

Yes there were plenty of mistakes made. I'll bet if we could talk to those agencies in a year or two thing will have changed, not much but a little. And if the media was not pushing their cameras to the faces of podunk officials we would have not heard of this for a while, meaning that as good and bad.

We all have a responsibility to our families to not be stupid. Some of us fail sometimes.

M

/end rant

I agree. Many lawsuits are bogus. My point was, How many times have you seen multiple agencies agree on anything without public pressure of some type? I don't know about where you live, but here they can't agree on stop signs, railroad crossings, street paving, etc. let alone something as important as the subject here. Yes people need to be responsible for their own actions. I'm sure the climbers knew their sport was dangerous and they might not make it back

Mark