Rescuers from a number of local emergency-response teams responded to a hiker in need in the Bigelow Range near Stratton last Monday. The 17 year-old girl from Utah was hiking with friends on the Cranberry Peak Trail when she began experiencing seizures. Fortunately her friends were able to obtain a cell phone signal and could contact the authorities for help. A Northstar Ambulance crew was the first team to make contact with the patient around 12:30 p.m. As more rescuers arrived the patient was loaded into a litter basket for the trip to the ambulance located at the trail-head. About 25 people took turns carrying the patient an estimated 1.5 miles down the trail. A rope belay was used to secure the litter for 2 different steep sections of trail. High humidity and temperatures in the 90’s made the relatively short carry-out a challenge. The rescue took about 3.5 hours and included volunteers from Eustis Fire Department, Carrabassett FD and Franklin Search & Rescue.
Jake and Sprague run the litter belay
Northstar EMT Vanessa stayed at the patient's head monitoring her condition for the entire carry-out.
Bob and Pat lead the way
Bob gets a cool-down from Sprague at the trail-head after successfully completing the mission.
1 comment:
We just found your blog and added it to our favorites. Thanks for documenting missions like this.
Will check back often.
-Daniel O.
Rope and Rescue
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