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East Oregonian
Suicides:
Continued from Page A1
Health offi cials also said
that call volumes to Lines
for Life, a regional substance
abuse and suicide preven-
tion nonprofi t that operates
several crisis helplines, has
increased annually since
2016. Of the crisis calls staff
answered, roughly the same
percent of callers reported
thinking about suicide in
2020 as in 2019.
The officials said it is
also important to note that
the number of youth suicide
deaths in 2021 did not
decrease in every county
in Oregon. Last week,
Lane County Public Health
declared a public health
emergency due to an increase
in youth suicides since
November 2021. In response
to this increase, additional
resources and supports are
being made available to Lane
County schools, health care
providers, and community
members.
Oregon Health
Authority responds
OHA works together
with other state agencies,
counties, Tribal partners,
communities and advocacy
groups across the state to
prevent suicide in Oregon.
State health offi cials said that
since March 2020, Oregon’s
suicide prevention team has
met weekly to analyze data,
plan prevention eff orts, and
bolster the state’s ability to
respond to emerging needs.
Challenges:
ARE YOU IN CRISIS?
Additional mental health resources include:
• 24/7 Suicide Prevention National Lifeline number: 1-800-
273-8255.
• 24/7 Spanish Lifeline: 1-888-628-9454.
•24/7 Crisis Text Line: Text “OREGON” to 741741.
• 24/7 Crisis Line for Veterans: 1-800-273-8255 and Press “1”
or text 838255.
• Senior Loneliness Line: 503-200-1633.
• YouthLine for teen-to-teen crisis help. A phone line and
a texting support line are off ered through Lines for Life.
Trained teens respond from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through
Friday, PDT. Adults are also available 24/7. Call 1-877-968-
8491 or text teen2teen to 839863.
OHA has invested heav-
ily in several suicide preven-
tion, intervention, treatment,
and “postvention” programs,
collectively referred to as Big
River programming. Each
of the programs is available
statewide, has a coordina-
tor to support local eff orts,
and has seen robust growth
since they became available
in 2020.
State health offi cials have
also:
• Launched the Remote
Suicide Risk Assessment
and Safety Planning phone
line and created a tool to
support school administra-
tors, school counselors and
other school based mental
health services.
• Created the Oregon
Behavioral Health Support
Line, which offers live
support.
• Developed the Youth
Suicide Assessment in
Vi r t u al Env i ron ment s
(YouthSAVE) training,
created specifically for
mental health profession-
als who serve youth. This
training equips school- and
community-based mental
health professionals to use
virtual tools to reach youth
who have thoughts of suicide.
More than 700 youth-serv-
ing providers in Oregon have
taken YouthSAVE since its
launch in December 2020.
• In collaboration with
the Oregon Department of
Education, set up a School
Suicide Prevention and Well-
ness team to provide support
to school districts for suicide
prevention planning and
implementation.
Before then, Oregon
launched the Safe + Strong
Helpline and website at the
beginning of the pandemic
to provide support for
those struggling with the
loss of loved ones and life-
style changes. The Safe +
Strong Helpline, 800-923-
4357 (HELP), is avail-
able 24/7. More help and
resources are available in
multiple languages on the
Safe + Strong website.
Forum:
Continued from Page A1
Like former Gov. Vic
Atiyeh, Hess said he was a
Republican from the Port-
land metro area, which
would give him an advantage
in trying to break the GOP’s
losing streak in gubernato-
rial elections.
“I know it sucks to think
about a Portland person, but
a Portland person is how we
get somebody who’s conser-
vative elected,” he said.
McQuisten used her
opening remarks to remind
the audience she helped pass
a Baker City resolution that
criticized Brown and her
COVID-19 restrictions.
“I wrote a resolution you
may have heard of that told
Kate Brown to pound sand,”
she said.
McQuisten said moder-
ates such as Pierce and
Knute Buehler couldn’t win
the general election, but she,
as a “staunch conservative,”
could.
Nonaff iliated voters
recently surpassed Demo-
crats as the largest group
of voters in the state, and
Merritt said Republicans
needed to win those voters
if they were going to win
general elections and govern
eff ectively.
He also criticized Drazan
for allowing a gun control
bill to pass so Republicans
could get a seat at the table
for redistricting only for
Democrats to gerrymander
anyway.
“Compromise is never an
option,” he said.
Richardson said she was
intentionally running her
campaign frugally, adding
she had only spent $3,000
on her campaign.
She also compared herself
to former President Donald
Trump, saying she was
unpredictable and was able
to successfully evade the
state’s attempts to censor her.
“The state doesn’t know
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Reed Chris-
tiansen addresses the audience during a forum Thursday,
March 24, 2022, at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Continued from Page A1
Search and Rescue Foun-
dation received a $5,000
donation last week in his
name from the Blue Moun-
tain Insurance Profession-
als presented at the Umatilla
County Board of Commis-
sioners meeting. Joined by
Watson’s mother and grand-
mother, Scott Sager, of
BMIP, spoke to the commis-
sioners about Watson.
“Cody was a sergeant
with the National Guard,”
Sager said. “He was a very
inquisitive, inspiring and
motivated individual. He
was on his way to a dream
of being a military pilot. He
died that night on that moun-
tain.”
Wa t s o n’s m o t h e r,
Holli Hill, presented the
$5,000 check to three SAR
members in attendance who
wrapped her in a hug. The
money likely will go to the
county’s new SAR founda-
tion to help purchase a light-
weight rope system to help
with extractions in steep
terrain like the ravine on
West Birch Creek.
Aftermath of the fall
After falling, Postma
remembers landing in shal-
low water and a rocky creek
bed, Watson hit nearby and
Carter fell into deeper water
on his stomach with his head
submerged. He appeared
unconscious. When Postma
flipped him over, he felt
relieved as Carter took a
breath.
The trio attempted to
make sense of what had just
happened.
“We were dazed and
confused,” Postma said.
“There was so much adren-
aline.”
They took stock. Carter
had two collapsed lungs
and his glasses were gone.
Postma had a broken right
leg and pelvis. A bone stuck
out of his arm. Watson had
the most injuries.
“His leg was completely
shattered,” Carter said.
Postma and Watson, both
members of the Oregon
Army National Guard,
started thinking strate-
gically. Watson needed a
tourniquet on his leg. They
decided that Carter should
hike out.
Before leaving, Carter
used his shoelaces and a
stick to splint Watson’s leg
and fashion a tourniquet. He
stared up at the sheer rock
walls and and decided to
head down the creek to fi nd
a better way up and out of
the ravine. He planned to
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
skills he thought would help
him reform Salem.
Thielman touted his
time as a “man of action”
in Alsea, where he and the
school board passed a reso-
lution making face masks
optional before the state
lifted its own mandate.
He said the state should
require schools to teach
gun safety courses in fi fth,
eighth and 10th grade. As
governor, he also would have
the state arrest Multnomah
County District Attorney
Mike Schmidt.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Holli Hill, mother of Cody Watson, receives a hug March 16,
2022, after presenting a $5,000 check to representatives
of the Umatilla County Search and Rescue at a Umatilla
County Board of Commissioners meeting in Pendleton.
Dwight Johnson/Contributed Photo
A National Guard Black Hawk helicopter hovers July 2, 2021,
during a rescue operation to save three men injured in a
fall near Big Falls on West Birch Creek near Pilot Rock. One
man, Cody Watson, 21, died, but rescuers saved his friends,
Braydon Postma and Kyler Carter, who were transported to
St. Charles Medical Center in Bend and have since recovered.
hike back to the pickup, get
his cellphone and call 911.
As twilight faded into inky
blackness, he realized that
this wouldn’t be easy. As
he walked, carefully avoid-
ing the edge, he remembers
feeling lost. Finally he opted
to wait until dawn to get his
bearings. He worried about
his friends down in that hole
since they were likely cold
with the mist of the water-
fall constantly blowing over
them. After dawn, he made
it to the pickup.
He grabbed a rock and
broke the window of the
pickup, found his cell-
phone and called 911, tell-
ing the operator that he and
his friends had fallen off a
waterfall and had serious
injuries. The next call went
to his mother, who spread
the word to the families.
Search and rescue
operation begins
A little after 9 a.m., SAR
supervisor Sgt. Dwight
Johnson got a call at home
that three men had fallen
about 50 feet into a deep,
brushy canyon. One had
hiked out and two lay
injured at the bottom, one
with a tourniquet on his leg.
Johnson began gathering
resources.
“Our unit is all volun-
teer,” he said. “Our key
rope guy wasn’t available so
my next call was to Union
County for mutual aid. They
have more rope-trained
people than we do.”
Joh n s o n a c t iva t e d
Umatilla County’s SAR
unit, then requested a Black
Hawk helicopter from
the National Guard with
the ability to hoist people
from narrow, hard-to-reach
places.
“We knew a litter pack
out would be diffi cult (in that
terrain),” Johnson said. “It’s
one of the hardest things
to do. All the helicopters
(crews) were off on a holi-
day.”
It would probably take
fi ve hours. Johnson ordered
the fl ight anyway. The heli-
copter soon would head to
Pilot Rock from Salem.
The list of responders
grew. LifeFlight, Pilot Rock
Fire Protection District,
Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1 Chief Scott
Stanton who ran the opera-
tion along with Johnson and
the Union County rope team.
In the canyon, sleep
evaded Postma and Watson.
They spent the night trying
to stay warm, talking about
family and friends and
wondering if this would be
their last conversation.
NOW
HIRING
Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Bridget Barton
addresses the audience during a forum Thursday, March 24,
2022, at the Pendleton Convention Center.
what I’m going to do next,”
she said. ”Every time I try
to do something, they never
know what to expect.”
Sizemore owns a paint-
ing business, but he might
be best known for passing
multiple ballot measures
that limited property taxes
in the 1990s. He also ran for
governor in 1996, but lost
to Gov. John Kitzhaber in a
landslide.
Sizemore leaned on his
experience passing ballot
measures and fi ghting with
public employee unions,
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