Search and rescue members wait for the helicopter to help rescue an injured geocacher on Mt. Savona.
Image Credit: Kamloops Search and Rescue
May 02, 2014 - 3:21 PM
SAVONA — A geocacher was rescued off Mt. Savona by helicopter early this evening after he was left injured by a displaced boulder.
Around 1 p.m. two hikers were on Mt. Savona, about 12 km south of Savona, Friday afternoon and took a short cut to get to a geocache close to the caves. While off trail, one of the hikers displaced a boulder that rolled on to a second one, breaking his leg and badly damaging his arm.
Rescuers believed at the time he was going into shock but when search and rescue crews reached him a couple hours later he was still conscious, and even in good spirits. Because of the terrain, filled with large, loose boulders, a helicopter team was brought in from Penticton to assist with the rescue.
The external helicopter transport team, known as a HETS team, deploys rescue members by rope below the copter in ‘gnarly’ terrain. Only a few of these teams operate in the province.
They arrived on scene shortly after 6 p.m. and within the hour, the patient was loaded in ambulance and on his way to hospital. The man was transported in a bag (clamshell) hooked to the long line and flown to a nearby field where the ambulance was waiting.
The rescue just beat out a storm that moved into the area and lightning could be seen in the distance as the helicopter team worked. As soon as the man was loaded into ambulance the rain started to fall.
Nineteen crew members from three different search and rescue crews—Kamloops, Logan Lake and Nicola Valley—as well as an ambulance team and the helicopter team were on site for the rescue.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infotelnews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
-This story was updated at 8:05 p.m., May 2.
-This story was update at 10:06 p.m., May 2 to add pictures and video.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014