Sedona AZ (May 15, 2015) – On May 10, 2015, at approximately 2:30 in the afternoon, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit responded to a report of an injured hiker in West Clear Creek. An adult male was believed to have a broken leg and in need of rescue.
The Blue Ridge resident deputy sheriff and the Pine-Strawberry Fire District responded and requested Search and Rescue. The Search and Rescue team responded for a litter carry. Given the time of day and the conditions in the bottom of West Clear Creek it was determined that a helicopter short-haul rescue would be the safest option.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Central Air Rescue in Phoenix responded to the area. A Coconino County Sheriff’s Office SAR volunteer trained as a heli-rescue technician boarded the helicopter and performed heli-rappel into the scene. Once on the scene, the SAR helicopter rescue technician and Pine-Strawberry Fire District personnel secured the victim on a backboard and placed him in a Bauman Bag device for the short-haul. The man and the SAR heli-rescue technician were lifted out of the canyon to the intersection of State Route 260 and State Route 87 where a ground ambulance waited for the patient.
This mission was another good example of inter-agency coordination among northern Arizona responders and the Department of Public Safety Aviation Bureau.