LOUISVILLE, Tenn. –On Tuesday morning,February 24, aflight crew with the Tennessee Army National Guard,based at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson,rescued a hiker suffering from severe cold-weather injuriesin the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Shortly before8:30a.m., Eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified of an injuredhikerneedingmedicalassistanceandrapid transportto a nearby hospital. The hiker was at theDouble Springs Gap Shelter, in a remote areaof the park south of Gatlinburg, near the North Carolina border.
Once TEMA was notified of the possible mission, Tennessee National Guardsmenassigned toTask Force Smokeyassembled a flight crewandreadieda UH-60 Blackhawk helicopterfor flight.After the mission was approved, theaircraftdepartedJoint Base McGhee-Tysonat approximately9:30a.m., flyingdirectly tothe rescue sitedeterminedby Park Service Rangers. The Rangers were in contact with the hiker through a Garmin inReach that the hiker used to send an emergency SOS to initiate the rescue.
The Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew consisted of two pilots, Chief Warrant Officer4 Luke Hargrave and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Corey Holloway, thecrew chief, Sgt.Christopher Burke, andtwoflight paramedics,Master Sgt. Tracy Banta and Sgt. 1st ClassNolan Ogle.
Fifteen minutesafter launching, theaircraftand crewarrived at theDouble Springs Gap Shelter and located the hiker. At roughly 9:55 p.m.,theaircraftcrew chief,Christopher Burke, lowered Nolan Ogle,the fight paramedic, to the ground by hoist to do a quick medical assessment and prepare the hiker for transport. After a few minutes rendering aid, the hikerandOglewerethenhoisted into the Blackhawk helicopter hovering abovewhere first aid was continued. When everyone was safe on board, theaircraftflew the patient to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
At approximately10:25a.m., theaircraftlanded atthe medicalcenter where medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room.Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, theaircraftreturned to Louisville and landed just before11:00a.m.