Fort Harrison, MONT. – Soldiers of the Montana Army National Guard’s 1-189th General Support Aviation Battalion rescued an injured hunter in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming, November 3, 2022.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jenn Hoover, the Montana Army National Guard Army Aviation Support Facility Safety Officer, said that no other rescue assets were available, prompting a request for the Montana Guard’s help providing medical evacuation assistance.
The Montana Army National Guard received notification at 10:30 a.m. that an eighty-year-old male had fallen off his horse sustaining injuries to his hip and leg, and that inclement weather was expected necessitating an air rescue.
“When we received the call we already had an aircraft set up with about 90% of the equipment onboard because we were heading out to do a training flight to train this exact type of exercise,” Hoover said.
Because the pilot originally assigned to the training mission had never performed a rescue, the crew was adjusted to place those with experience on the now real-world mission.
Hoover and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Travis Gronley piloted the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, Sgt. Carl Boike was the crew chief, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Christensen and Sgt. Isaac McKean were the flight medics.
The aircraft was launched just after noon with a general idea of their destination in the Cody area, expecting to receive updates while on their way.
The crew arrived at the Cody airport at 1:50 p.m. where they met with the local sheriff and a civilian medical evacuation helicopter pilot to get more information before flying out to the recovery site.
The aircrew were able to locate the injured hunter at 2:28 p.m. and Christensen was lowered down on a hoist cable to reach the man and begin providing patient care and prepare the injured man for transport.
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“We used a stokes basket and a backboard to hoist the patient to the helicopter,” said Christensen. “We were able to use his sleeping bag to keep the patient warm, as well as our [Hypothermia Prevention and Management Kits], and we also started him on fluids.”
Christensen said his main objective once on the ground was to get the patient stabile enough to be hoisted to the helicopter and flown back to Cody, while keeping him as comfortable as possible with his injuries.
“At that point, I never lose patient contact, so I’m with him from the start to the end,” said Christensen.
“We were able to drop the patient off in Cody where there was an ambulance waiting to transport him to the hospital,” said Hoover. “The flight medics accompanied the patient to the hospital on the ambulance, continuing to assist with his care until they arrived at the hospital.”
Hoover said after the medics collected their equipment and returned to the airport the crew returned to Helena.
“I think training is one thing,” said Hoover, “but actually executing the mission is what drives the passion of our aviators, our medics, our crew members to stay in the National Guard and continue to perform the mission for the state.”
Join our team! For information on the opportunities in the Montana Army National Guard, please contact our Recruiting staff at 406-794-2344.
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For More Information Contact: Maj. Ryan Finnegan, 406-324-3009 or Master Sgt. Michael Touchette, 406-324-3007
| Date Taken: | 11.15.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.15.2022 13:07 |
| Story ID: | 433291 |
| Location: | MT, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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