Woman falls headfirst into outdoor toilet while trying to retrieve phone

[Kennywood]

(Think you're having a bad day?)

BRINNON, Wash. (WXIN) – It wasn’t the usual mountain rescue for first responders in Washington’s Olympic National Forest.

Instead of rescuing a hiker that was stranded at the top of a mountain, they came to the aid of a woman who was stuck inside an outdoor toilet.

The woman was using the facilities at the Mt. Walker vista point on Tuesday when she dropped her cell phone into the underground container below a vault toilet, according to a public Facebook post by the Brinnon Fire Department.

A vault toilet, typically found at campgrounds and near hiking trails, is waterless and non-flushing.

The woman first tried to get the phone out herself by taking the toilet seat and housing apart and using her dog’s leash to “fish” the phone out.

Florida bride, caterer accused of lacing wedding food with marijuana
Crews said she was using the dog’s leash to support herself when she fell headfirst into the toilet.

After attempting for 15-20 minutes to get herself out of the container, the woman was able to get her hands on her phone and call 911.

The Brinnon and Quilcene fire departments responded and made a makeshift cribbing platform tall enough for the woman to stand on and pulled her to safety.

According to the Brinnon Fire Department, the woman was washed down and given a Tyvek suit - personal protective equipment in the style of a coverall - to wear. She did not wish to be taken to the hospital.

Crews urged her to seek medical attention after her exposure to human waste, but she only wanted to leave and continue on her way to California, they said.

They said the woman was lucky not to have become ill due to the toxic gases or hurt from the fall.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle...ingHp01&cvid=d6fa51403ef84067d24e906370f9046b

 

[jrmasm]

Awkward

 

[BrianL]

Ew.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I've lived with outhouses. No way would I fish anything out of one.

 

[bcla]

Heard about both.

I've used these types of "vault toilets" before. They can be a bit on the scary side since without the seat one can typically fall right through. Usually the seats are pretty heavy duty and I think some are securely fixed to the base (i.e. doesn't flip up). However, the same can be said for many porta-potties. However, some have a really deep tank where it's a 6-8 feet drop. I could imagine finding gloves and reaching into a porta-potty, but getting down into one of these big vault toilets is a completely different matter.

Found this from the Forest Service, but on the website of an organization for outdoor professionals. Still a long way down unless you're Mr. Fantastic.

https://www.recpro.org/assets/Library/Restrooms/vault_toilet_design_principles.pdf​

The depth of the vault shall be no deeper than 4-1/2 to 5 ft.​

I remember being in Yosemite on the Valley Tram Tour when we were given a chance to take a potty break right at one of these toilets. Before we left, we saw one of the maintenance vehicles that was there to pump out the waste and refill with new fluid. That's got to be a fun job.

 

[Boopuff]

That's a big "heck-no!" I'd be like Elsa..... LET IT GO!

 

[bcla]

I've lived with outhouses. No way would I fish anything out of one.

The kind of vault toilets that the National Park Service and Forest Service use aren't ordinary outhouses. Some designs have the pit extending beyond the edge of the building.

It might have worked if one had something like those claw things. Or maybe rigging some sort of basket at the end of a pole like a lacrosse stick. It may be kind of gross, but a lot of these newer phones claim to be water resistant to some degree, although it's not a guarantee.

 

[WorldWacky]

She should have gone to the hospital to get thoroughly cleaned up and checked out. Yuck! Yeah, the phone wasn’t worth it!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Yuck! I would've just purchased a new phone.

 

[Disneytrippin']

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[bcla]

Yuck! I would've just purchased a new phone.

Most people don't care about a phone, but photos might be something worth saving, especially if they're not backed up. If I had to fish my phone out of something like that I would clean it up, see if I could back it up and copy over all the photos, and then forget about using it ever again. A lot of times they'll eventually fail from water intrusion, but hopefully work long enough to do all that stuff.

 

[SueInBoston]

nothing I own is valuable enough for me to retrieve from a port potty or vault toilet

 

[PollyannaMom]

And I was just thinking the DIS was kind of boring today. I should be careful what I wish for.

 

[bcla]

nothing I own is valuable enough for me to retrieve from a port potty or vault toilet

There have been people who had poo-contaminated devices that were repaired to recover photos. Heck - I've heard of devices that failed because they were soaked in blood. It sounds gross, but it's really not that bad once it's cleaned up.

 

[DCJ]

I hate when that happens

 

[RamblingMad]

I use those toilets all the time. Get zippered pockets.

 

[goofy4prez]

Talk about a hot mess... Oh well, *hit happens.

 

[DisneyOma]

Another reason why I will never camp in a place that has pit/vault toilets!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Another reason why I will never camp in a place that has pit/vault toilets!

I can add this to my list of why I NEVER go camping.

 

[Cheburashka]

Just another reason to avoid touching other people's phones...