Helicopter Rescue in the Eagle Caps
By Garrett Christensen on Saturday, July 2nd, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Union County Search and Rescue) At approximately 11:00 AM on Wednesday, July 27th, Union County 911 was contacted by the Garmin International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) and notified of a medical emergency high in the East Eagle Creek drainage within the Eagle Cap Wilderness. The IERCC was able to communicate with the party initiating the SOS signal via an inReach device and determine that the patient was a 78 year-old woman who had fallen at about 10:00 AM that morning and sustained a possible ankle fracture.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office SAR Team was immediately notified by dispatchers, and due to the very remote location and exposure, extreme heat, patient age, and extended time for ground resources to make contact, SAR coordinators requested a hoist-capable helicopter from the National Guard and also contacted Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch to discuss availability of local federal fire resources. Union County Sheriff Cody Bowen discussed the situation with Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Supervisor Shaun McKinney who promptly facilitated assistance in the form of a local US Forest Service (USFS) rappel crew from the Grande Ronde Rappellers that was preparing for a different mission at the Mule Peak lookout.
The Union County SAR team was put on standby to prepare for insertion to the area while the USFS rappel crew flew to the patient location. The USFS rappellers’ helicopter was not able to land near the patient due to the steep slope, so four rappellers, including trained wilderness first responders and paramedic, rappelled out of the helicopter and began assessing the patient and preparing an extraction plan. The USFS crew was able to identify a landing zone approximately 0.7 miles away by trail where a medivac helicopter could land, and requested that one be dispatched.
A SAR coordinator working with dispatch personnel at the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center then ordered a Life Flight Network helicopter to attempt landing at the location identified. Life Flight 10 responded from La Grande while the rappel crew packaged the patient and initiated transport down the steep hillside to the landing zone. The National Guard helicopter was kept enroute in case the Life Flight helicopter was unable to land. The Life Flight helicopter landed at the designated helispot and subsequently transported the patient to the Union County Airport where they were then transported to Grande Ronde Hospital by a City of La Grande Fire Department ambulance.Both the Life Flight and USFS helicopters returned to the area after the patient was transported and extracted all of the remaining personnel involved in the rescue. We would like to express our sincere thanks to Lifeflight and all of the USFS staff involved, especially the Grande Ronde Rappellers. Without their professional assistance, this call would have taken many more hours to resolve and may have resulted in a different outcome for the patient.
