Not for want of a glove: first person video of a skier buried, then rescued from an avalanche. He also got very lucky to be honest. In the time that he's buried, you can hear his breathing already accelerate. The ruffling noise back and forth is his chest rising and falling and the noise that his jacket makes. The intermittent whimpering noise you hear is him trying to swallow and get some air since the avalung wasn't fully in his mouth and instead just to the corner of his mouth. Avalanche at 1:19. Blue sky and view of the rescuers starts at 6:07.
posted by maudlin on Sep 27, 2009 - 42 comments

Man swept out to sea, incident caught using tilt-shift miniturazing technique: Bathtub IV [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Sep 15, 2009 - 48 comments

In 1999, Dr. Jerri Nielsen was the only doctor in the winterover crew at the South Pole Station in Antarctica. While there, she discovered and treated her own breast cancer until she could be airlifted out. She died yesterday of breast cancer at age 57. [more inside]
posted by rtha on Jun 24, 2009 - 55 comments

Tigers and leopards and pumpkins, oh my! (Metacafe video, will autoplay on page load). So your little kittycat loves cantaloupe, eh? Then you should see how these rescued big cats descend upon the leftover Halloween pumpkins and assorted gourds distributed to them each year. (via)
posted by maudlin on May 11, 2009 - 42 comments

"What began as a defensive movement by local fishermen has evolved into a complex amalgamation of banditry, organized crime, freebooting, and insurgency targeting all types of vessels from fishing trawlers to oil tankers." Somali pirates holding an American captain hostage were killed during a rescue yesterday. The lack of effective governance in Somalia allows massive vessels from Europe and Asia to decimate the local fish population, which may have forced Somali fisherman into piracy. Other ships use the Somali coast as a toxic waste dump. [previously]
posted by benzenedream on Apr 13, 2009 - 188 comments

Sergeant Pen Farthing of the Royal Marines likes dogs. [more inside]
posted by Dipsomaniac on Jan 18, 2009 - 10 comments

Approximately two years ago, James Kim died after he and his family were stranded, snowbound, in their car on the Oregon coast (Previously, previously, and (selflink) previously). But what if he'd had a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)? [more inside]
posted by scrump on Oct 30, 2008 - 36 comments

"Girl, he died a hero with tons of people loving him." A jack-of-all-trades worker from Florida came to Houston to help clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, and was killed while trying to save three dogs on a freeway. At first, it seemed the man, while praised as a local hero, and receiving tons of support in death from animal lovers, would remain an unknown loner in death as he had been in life. Then a Google search and an exchange of e-mails led one Houston woman to the man's daughter, living in Pittsburgh. The young woman had been searching for her father for thirteen years.
posted by WolfDaddy on Oct 8, 2008 - 37 comments

Above Enemy Lines (youtube 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is a BBC Documentary about a RAF Chinook crew on their tour of duty in Afghanistan. Part 4 and 5 of the film deal with the crew attempting to rescue a wounded 19 year-old soldier from a combat zone.
posted by krautland on Sep 8, 2008 - 7 comments

Awww-Filter: Tattooed bikers, puppies, and tiny kittens. What's not to love? The New York Times goes for a ride-along with Rescue Ink, complete with awww-inducing slideshow. [more inside]
posted by Forktine on Aug 24, 2008 - 20 comments

Are you looking for a nice, big kitty to let into your heart? Princess Chunk, at 44 pounds, might fit the bill nicely. Just two pounds shy of the world's record, the pudgy kitty was roaming sans collar in Voorhees, NJ and is now in good hands at the Camden County Animal Shelter. Chunker's owners have until Saturday to claim their big pal - after that, this big quarterback of a kitty is ready for a loving home.
posted by porn in the woods on Jul 30, 2008 - 61 comments

Remember the FAIL boat (also prev)? Now Mazda's in the midst of trying to efficiently dispose of approximately $100 million worth of factory-new automobiles.
posted by allkindsoftime on Apr 29, 2008 - 87 comments

Wildlife rehabilitators take care of wounded or orphaned animals, nursing them back to health and preparing them for a life back in the wild. This leads to a lot of cute baby animal videos. (Roll over for descriptions.) [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on Jan 7, 2008 - 14 comments

Saved By Jesus! Incrediable story out of the Arizona desert. I just feel really bad for the kid in all this. And wonder how both sides of the immigration debate will handle this.
posted by ShawnString on Nov 23, 2007 - 80 comments

William Rodriguez gave a captivating presentation in Seattle on 11/07/07. William is believed to be the "Last Man Out" of the north tower of the World Trade Center alive, but not before reentering three times with the master key after the first plane impacted the north tower to help rescue a countless number of people. Here is an interview with William after the presentation. His Ricky Ricardo impersonation at the end is pretty good.
posted by augustweed on Nov 13, 2007 - 31 comments

Paging asavage, congratulations are in order. Thanks to quick thinking and an episode of Mythbusters, 14-year-old Julian Shaw saves a man from death by train. "[As the train roared past] the noise pierced your ears and there was a suction that pulled us in… I'd seen that on MythBusters, so I stayed right back and pulled Mark back towards me."
posted by micketymoc on Nov 8, 2007 - 60 comments

Join the volunteers and become a virtual crewmember of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution by downloading the desktop pager. The pager can be set to monitor all stations in the UK and Ireland or just specific stations. If you had it running in 2006 it would have gone off 8377 times (PDF).
posted by TwoWordReview on Sep 5, 2007 - 8 comments

Top 10 rescue videos from the US Coastguard, which celebrated its birthday by announcing it has saved 1,109,310 lives in its 217-year existence.
posted by dersins on Aug 5, 2007 - 7 comments

Fifty years ago today, the bodies of Jean Vincendon and François Henry were finally being brought back to Chamonix. The two young mountaineers had set-off for the ascent of Mont-Blanc and found themselves blocked in an ice storm on their way down. A rescue team found them several days later, sitting on the glacier by temperatures of -30°C at 4000 meters of altitude. They were alive, photographed even, but could not be brought down and died later on, abandoned in the wreckage of the old Sikorsky rescue helicopter which had crashed beside them. The operation fiasco caused a total reorganization of the mountain rescue service in France.
posted by rom1 on Mar 19, 2007 - 6 comments

Rescuers plan biggest search yet, using helicopters, a C-130 aircraft, infrared equipment, and scores of volunteers to search for 3 climbers trapped on Mt. Hood. But at what cost in dollars and lives? A 1998 rescue of two climbers on Mt. McKinley cost $221,818. And Mt. Hood is no stranger to climbing accidents: in 2002, an Air Force helicopter crashed [youtube] while trying to rescue nine climbers swept into a crevasse. Is it time to revisit the debate over who should pay for dangerous, high-profile mountain rescues? [More inside]
posted by googly on Dec 16, 2006 - 204 comments

Making an emergency car kit for road trips, especially in winter conditions.

How to travel safely in winter.

What to do if you're lost.

How to survive in the wilderness, according to the US Army. How to build an igloo. How to make emergency snowshoes.

equipped.org reviews personal survival kits, provides the story of five people stranded within sight of one of the US's largest cities, and blogs on the topic of emergency survival. And, last but not least, the equipped.org forums weigh in on the Kim emergency.

Requiescat in pace, James Kim.
posted by scrump on Dec 7, 2006 - 57 comments

Horse Rescue in the Netherlands--after a heavy storm in October, 100+ horses were standed on a small island. Here's how they were rescued.Google video; alternate YouTube link. Warning: Vangelis music.
posted by fandango_matt on Nov 29, 2006 - 43 comments

"Ever since I got certified to perform euthanasias I have been having crazy dreams where basically I'm just killing everything. I don't really know how to deal with it." Tales of your Local Animal Shelter. Of particular interest is the four phases of rescue.
posted by hindmost on Aug 27, 2006 - 14 comments

A Story of Survival. The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous was established to fulfill the traditional Jewish commitment to hakarat hatov, the searching out and recognition of goodness .
posted by hortense on May 17, 2006 - 3 comments

Allen, 24, and Brandon Day, 28, of Dallas, were in Southern California for a financial convention. They got lost Saturday west of Palm Springs after wandering off a trail during what was supposed to be a day hike. [On the third day] they discovered a campsite in a dead-end gorge. Day and Allen were elated, thinking someone there could help them find the way out. But something was wrong. A radio and flashlight were corroded. They realized the place was deserted. ``His last journal entry was one year ago to the day that we found it, which was very eerie,' Day said. ``Nobody knew where he was, nobody knew to come looking for him, so he was preparing for the end. We were looking at the words of a man who was passing.' The missing man was John Donovan, who had disapeared a year earlier while hiking the pacific crest trail. "Even in his death, he was helping people," Donovan's longtime friend, Chris Hook, said from Richmond, Virginia.
posted by 445supermag on May 11, 2006 - 26 comments

Yesterday morning in Florida, the landing gear on a student-piloted Cessna failed to lock into place. After the plane circled for an hour, the airport president drove a Jeep underneath the plane at 80 mph while his passenger took a stick and knocked the wheels into place. And that, as they say in the business, was caught on tape.
posted by Saucy Intruder on Sep 17, 2005 - 48 comments

Yet to draw national sympathy--and shock? Some hurricane survivors are being allowed to return to check their homes and authorities are working to deal with the dead. But how many people may remain in mortal peril? The NOLAView weblog reports some ongoing, hair-raising situations: "Kathy Frank is stranded and trapped at 1737 Valence Street. She is text messageing. . . . Right now it is Monday at 12 pm." "[A]rson fires have been set in the Bywater and criminals are still in control of the streets at night." And this is within New Orleans. What about rural areas--struggling and receiving little or no federal assistance? And the spread of infectious disease and other post-hurricane threats?
posted by flug on Sep 5, 2005 - 47 comments

German police revive rabbit "....by breathing through a ball point pen after he passed out in a house fire.....officers opened Napoleon's mouth with a pen and breathed down it while giving the pet a cardio massage, a police spokesman said on Saturday....The officers then rushed [ the rabbit ] by police car to a vet."
posted by troutfishing on Jul 13, 2004 - 17 comments

How much do you like your cell phone? (NY Times link - alternate here) Bronx resident reaches into train toilet to retrieve dropped phone, becomes trapped, is rescued by jaws of life.
posted by Aaorn on Oct 31, 2003 - 11 comments

Monkeys rescued an orphaned member of their troop from an Indian police station after its mother was shot dead. The baby monkey breastfeeding the mother wouldn't let go of its dead mother. Police took the body to their station, and that night, 30 monkeys laid siege to the station and took the baby away with them. (from VeganPorn)
posted by ao4047 on Aug 2, 2002 - 33 comments

7 Year Old Abducted Girl Escapes Captors, Flees to Safety. In the "Summer of Child Kidnappings," the rest of the US could learn a thing or two from Philadelphia girls. Erica Pratt, 7, escaped her captors Tuesday night by chewing through duct tape binding her arms and legs, breaking through a locked basement door, smashing a window, and then calling to nearby playing children for help.
posted by ncurley on Jul 23, 2002 - 42 comments

Maryland Rescuers Find a Kitten and Look for Justice "In an act of cruelty that recalls last year's road-rage death of a California pooch named Leo, a driver in Poolesville dropped a 10-week-old kitten into the middle of busy Route 107 on Christmas and then took off. Somehow, the animal was not hit by traffic. But in its fright, it darted toward the curb and into a storm drain. And there it likely would have died if not for the lengthy effort of several do-gooders -- one of whom crawled 30 feet through a storm pipe to grab the two-pound bundle of fur. That's an unquestionably happy ending. For chief rescuer Ellie Truman[e], though, the ending won't be complete until the man who abandoned the kitten so egregiously is identified and charged." (Even the Washington Post loves kitten stories!)
posted by Carol Anne on Dec 29, 2001 - 7 comments

Proof that there are some brilliant teenage girls out there. This robotic rescue device was created by a couple of teenaged twin sisters, no less. Just imagine what these two will accomplish by the time they reach adulthood. The Craig sisters make excellent alternative role models to the likes of Britney and Christina. You go, girls.
posted by jonmc on Dec 19, 2001 - 24 comments

What a cool dog. One of the rescue pooches is being lifted out of the debris zone. In case you wanted to see one of matt's rescue dogs in action.
posted by moz on Sep 18, 2001 - 5 comments

Saving a Life and a Bride. Amid all the negative stories and news, there has been few positive stories about the heros of the day and week since the tradgedy. Just thought I would post this one. If anyone else knows of others, please post them as well.
posted by da5id on Sep 17, 2001 - 4 comments

Interactive map of New York City compliments of FoxNews. This is great for people like me who have no idea how NYC is laid out. Wow. Can't believe how much of the city doesn't have lights or phones.
posted by ColdChef on Sep 15, 2001 - 3 comments

The forgotten heros: dogs. Rescue dogs need booties for their feet (such as these) to protect them from the rubble and glass as the search for survivors continues. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is also asking for donations now.
posted by mathowie on Sep 14, 2001 - 16 comments

Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking has rescued 12,801 people worldwide. It's one of those deep (governmental) web sites that are brief, interesting and ad-free. A sample: "On March 31, 2001, the Cospas-Sarsat system detected a 212.5/243.0 MHz distress signal south of Punta Gorda, CA. A single engine Cessna 150 aircraft had crashed. CGD11 launched a helicopter and located the aircraft, nose down in 5-10 feet of water."
posted by Mo Nickels on Jul 2, 2001 - 1 comment

Hero Cop Saves Suicidal Woman and it was captured on dramatic footage shot from his squad car. Amazing.
posted by MegoSteve on Jun 20, 2001 - 5 comments

"Dog Child" Rescued An 11-year-old Chilean boy who has been living in the wild with a pack of dogs was rescued and taken to a hospital. He survived by drinking the milk of a female dog and eating scraps of food. (Even more amazing is the tale of the boy who was raised by monkeys and rescued in 1991...)
posted by jennak on Jun 18, 2001 - 9 comments

Fortunately, no one died when trying to rescue this poor guy who got stuck in the bottom of his outhouse for three days. He later described having hallucinations, and being trapped inside with rats, snakes and various other lovelies. I'd have to agree that comparing his ordeal to "Bible's Hell" would seem appropriate enough. ugh
posted by ookamaka on Aug 19, 2000 - 3 comments

Will the Russians let national pride stand in the way of saving a hundred men's lives? I sure hope not. I hope they ask for help. I don't give a damn about national pride, but I want those men back. The DSRV is the modern descendant of a diving bell which was used in 1939 to rescue much of the crew of USS Squalus, which sank during a test mission. It was the first time in history that men had been saved from a sunken submarine.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Aug 15, 2000 - 34 comments

This story isn't an excerpt from the new Tom Clancy novel; it just reads like it.
posted by harmful on Aug 14, 2000 - 2 comments