After bear mauling, LI teen gave first aid

In the harrowing 61/2 hours after a mauling by an Alaskan grizzly bear, 17-year-old Simeon Melman of Huntington performed first aid to stabilize wounds of the most severely injured and keep them warm until rescuers arrived.

The teen relied on his instincts and first aid training as he helped keep his friends alive, his father, Dr. Alexander Melman, a surgeon, said Monday. Melman said his son and the others provided first aid for the injured and kept each other warm with clothing.

Simeon will remain in Anchorage until Wednesday, his father said. Four from the group were hospitalized. Joshua Berg, 17, of New City, in Rockland County, and Samuel Gottsegen, 17, of Denver, who bore the brunt of the attack, remained hospitalized Monday. Noah Allaire, 16, of Albuquerque, and Victor Martin, 18, of Richmond, Calif., were discharged, officials said.

"They were mauled, very severely," state police spokeswoman Megan Peters said. "It was truly an emergency situation."

Melman said his son did suffer hypothermia, but wasn't seriously injured.

"He was a lucky one," said Melman, who is a vascular surgeon at Island Surgical and Vascular Group.

The teens were hiking in the Talkeetna Mountains east of Denali National Park and were trying to cross a river when the grizzly attacked Saturday night, Alaska State Police said.

A bear cub may have been nearby, troopers said. State wildlife officials said Monday they had no plans to hunt the bear that attacked the group.

Alexander Melman said his son has been a volunteer in the intensive care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and had been taking the survival-skills course for three weeks before heading out with the group.

"Thank God he was equipped to take care of the people who were injured," said Melman.

Simeon, who is a rising senior at Portledge School in Locust Valley, belongs to an outdoors club at school. He has gone on trips with the school to Vermont and upstate New York, but never as far as Alaska before, Melman said.

"This was the first trip of this kind of intensity," he said.

Simeon was in a 30-day backcountry course given by the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wasilla, Alaska. Around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the group was crossing a river when someone screamed about a bear, the group told police.

The Rescue Coordination Center operated by the Alaska Air National Guard called troopers around 9:30 p.m. to report an activated emergency locator signal. A trooper and pilot in a helicopter found the students in a tent shortly before 3 a.m. A trooper then called Melman.

"It was a very uncomfortable few hours," Melman said.

For three weeks, the participants go into the wilderness with instructors, and during the last week, if both instructors and participant feel comfortable, participants go without instructors.

"They all pulled together," said Melman. "Those kids are amazing."