LOS ANGELES — For the second time this summer, a person has died from heatstroke in California’s Death Valley National Park, park officials said Monday.
On Aug. 1, a day when temperatures soared to nearly 120 degrees Fahrenheit, bystanders saw a man stumbling while walking back from the Natural Bridge Trailhead, a one-mile round-trip hiking trail, a news release said.
The man, identified as 57-year-old Peter Hayes Robino of Duarte, California, refused their help. Witnesses said his responses were futile. He returned to his car and drove off a 20-foot ramp at the edge of the parking lot, the news release said.
Bystanders helped Robino walk back to the parking lot and into the shade, while one of them called 911. Emergency responders from the National Park Service received the call at 3:50 p.m. and arrived 20 minutes later, the news release said.
According to bystanders, Robino was still breathing until just before emergency services arrived. They performed CPR and took him to an air-conditioned ambulance.
Robino was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m. and an autopsy revealed he died of hyperthermia, or overheating. Symptoms can include confusion, irritability and lack of coordination, the news release said.
In July, a motorcyclist has died while traveling with a group through the desert on a day with a record high daily temperature of 128 degrees F (53.3 degrees C). Another member of the group was hospitalized and four others were treated at the scene. Later that month, a European tourist received third degree burns on his feet, because he had briefly walked barefoot on the sand.
On the salt flats of the Badwater Basin Valley, the lowest point in North America, a large red stop sign stands in the park. The sign warns visitors of the dangers of extreme heat to their bodies after 10 a.m. In addition, emergency medical helicopters typically cannot fly safely above temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, officials said.
Park rangers warn summer travelers not to hike in the valley at all after 10 p.m. and to stay within 10 minutes of an air-conditioned vehicle. Park rangers recommend drinking plenty of water, eating salty snacks, and wearing a hat and sunscreen.