Border Patrol agent saves Guatemalan in desert
by David L. Teibel on Aug. 11, 2007, under Local, Nation/World, SpecialA U.S. Border Patrol agent answering a call to an emergency beacon in a remote desert area Thursday found a dying man and saved him, a Border Patrol spokesman said.
The 27-year-old from Guatemala was severely dehydrated from the heat.
The man, whose name was not released, had crossed into the U.S. with a group of immigrants, probably near San Miguel, about 30 miles south of Sells, Border Patrol Agent Michael Scioli said.
“He was severely dehydrated, being in such horrible condition he just couldn’t keep up with the group,” Scioli said.
He made his way to an emergency beacon and pushed the button, setting it off around 7:40 p.m. and alerting agents someone needed help, Scioli said.
There are 22 such beacons scattered along desolate, rugged immigrant trails in southern Arizona. They are mounted on tall poles, Scioli said.
He said pushing a button on the pole sets off a strobe and sends a radio signal to a Border Patrol dispatch center.
Instructions for how to activate the beacon are printed on the pole in English, Spanish and the Tohono O’odham language, Scioli said.
When the man pushed the button, Scioli said, an agent with BORSTAR, the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue unit, was sent to the beacon about five miles south of state Route 86 and 15 miles east of Sells.
The agent, who also is an emergency medical technician, found the man about 8:40 p.m., gave him fluids intravenously, and the man recovered, Scioli said. The man was taken into custody for hearings on a return to Guatemala.
From Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, to July 31, the last date for which figures are available, Border Patrol agents have rescued 493 suspected illegal immigrants in southern Arizona deserts, Scioli said.
Most of them suffered from the desert’s heat, but others had injuries and some were lost, he said.
Illegal immigrants streaming across the Mexican border into the United States often succumb to the desert heat.
Since Oct. 1, the bodies of at least 148 suspected illegal immigrants have been found in southern Arizona’s deserts, according to Border Patrol and Tucson Citizen records.
For more border coverage, go to www.tucsoncitizen.com/border.
