WEMT Rescue Scenario Trainig

On Saturday around 8 p.m., in a steady rain with temps in the 40’s, a call was received by Franklin Dispatch from a hunter who heard ‘people screaming’ in the woods off the Long Falls Dam Road in Lexington. Over the next 3 hours, through an evolving series of events, rescuers would encounter 2 different ATV accidents, a distressed lost person, 2 fatalities, 2 burn victims, and a number of other medical, personnel and organizational challenges. The apex of the evening was when a low flying Civil Air Patrol airplane that was assisting in the search developed engine problems and crashed in a field near the rescuers! Plumes of smoke, burned patients and the chaos that follows an already taxed rescue operation only added to the intensity of the scene. Fortunately, the evening was only a training activity put on by Wilderness Medical Associate ‘WMA.’ The realistic scenario activity was part of a 6-day wilderness EMT class that approximately 20 EMTs from all over the state attended.

Pre-event briefing from instructor DK

After a very loud 'bang' and a 45 minute search, rescuers came upon this smoking airplane wreckage.