Injured hiker choppered from remote area of Columbia County

DAYTON–Spokane County's Rescue 3 responded to evacuate an injured hiker from a hilltop near Deadman Peak in a remote area of Columbia County Monday, June 24. Rescue 3 Flight Crews successfully located, treated, and rescued the victim, transporting him to an awaiting ambulance at the Walla Walla Regional Airport. The victim suffered a broken leg and is expected to make a full recovery.

The Spokane Regional Air Support Unit (SRASU) received a request from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to assist in rescuing an injured hiker at approximately 2:30 p.m. on June 24.

Initial information indicated a 33-year-old male hiker had fractured his leg on a trail near Deadman Peak. Columbia County Sheriff Joe Helm advised it was just over a 2½-mile hike into where the victim was, and they were unable to get any ATVs into the location to transport the downed hiker out. Sheriff Helm also advised that due to the terrain, it would take Columbia County Fire Rescue personnel several hours to reach the injured victim.

Based on the GPS coordinates and a short video of the area provided by the victim's brother, which was forwarded to the SRASU, it appeared Rescue 3 might be able to safely land or conduct a one-skid landing instead of performing a hoist rescue. The Rescue 3 Flight Crew would determine the safest option once they were on scene and completed a thorough site survey.

Rescue 3 launched and flew directly to the location of the downed hiker. Upon arriving in the area, they located the victim and surveyed the area for a possible landing site near him. Rescue 3 Flight Crews concluded the safest option was to bring the helicopter near the ground to offload the Helicopter Rescue Medics (HRMs). Due to the rugged and unlevel terrain, the pilots couldn't fully land the helicopter, so they opted to skillfully maintain a partial hover with only part of the skids contacting the ground. HRMs successfully deployed and began medically treating the patient as Rescue 3 cleared the area and orbited until the HRMs were ready to evacuate the patient safely.

After the patient was initially treated and evaluated, Rescue 3 Pilots brought the helicopter back in for a partial-skid landing, where the HRMs safely loaded the patient. HRMs continued to medically treat the patient while he was transported to Walla Walla Regional Airport. Once on the ground, Rescue 3's Crew met an awaiting local ambulance, and the patient was transferred to their care.