Helicopter Evacuation of an injured climber: a photo essay
Have you ever wondered how injured people are slung off climbing routes?Recently a friend and I were climbing a route on Goat Mountain near Canmore, Alberta. We were on a 5.8 route, Grey Waves on a slab of rock called Kid Goat. There was a group of British climbers next to us on a trad 5.6 route, Keel Haul. It was a big group with 5 climbers total. One leader was leading two ropes, each with two climbers attached. At one point, the two routes Grey Waves and Keel Haul cross at the second belay station for Grey Waves.
As my partner and I were converging at the second belay station, the group of 5 were just crossing in front of us on the ledge. One of the climbers stepped onto the wall just left of us and began screaming. We thought that he had slipped, but then the obscenities coming out of his mouth meant that something more serious had happened.
He kept screaming. This was serious. He was moaning about his knee and would not stop, and his knee appeared to be ceased in a locked position. He was unable to straighten it, or get any weight on it. Luckily, he was on top belay, to keep him from falling off the cliff. We gently lowered him onto the ledge that we were standing on which luckily was only a meter or so below him. We lay him down next to the belay station and secured him to the wall. My friend is a medic in training so she quickly assessed his injuries.
It appeared that his patella (knee cap) had popped out, or dislocated, which caused the initial pain. When we examined him, it had popped back in – which means the pain should stop. But there was something else that happened because he was screaming in pain and his leg was completely seized.
So it was obvious that he would not be climbing, and we made the initial call to help lower him off the route. We were only 40 meters off the ground, and since we had two 60 meter ropes to use, we could lower to the ground. We had begun to prepare for the lower but our patient would not stop screaming. It became obvious that a lower would just be far too painful. After that, we would have to carry him several kilometers down the hiking trail to the parking lot, and this would be time consuming and painful for the patient.
So I made the decision to call for rescue. I had my cell phone with me, and luckily we had cell service. Also, the cliff is only 20 nautical miles from the town of Canmore, where the rescuers and helicopter staging area is located.
We were in Kananaskis Country, so a call to 911 got dispatched to Calgary then on to Kananaskis Public Safety. I spoke with the rescuer, Mike, over the phone, explaining where we were and what the situation was. Luckily, the seven of us climbers, five in the other party and two of us, were standing on a very large ledge which would make it a lot easier. We weren’t going to continue our route until this climber was rescued.
Only 30 minutes later, the helicopter came around the corner to have a look at where we were. Then, it landed in a field where it set up to sling the rescuer, Mike, to be dropped off at the ledge.
Watching the helicopter hover over us on the cliff was nothing short of extraordinary. The skills these helicopter pilots have is amazing. About 40 feet above us and the blades only a few meters from the cliff, the pilot deposited the rescuer on the ledge with great precision. He unclipped from the rope and the helicopter was on it’s way back to the field to pick up the injured climber once he was packaged and ready.
Mike assessed the injury and packaged the leg, slung him up in a suit, and called for the helicopter to come back. I could already see the ambulance waiting by the field where the helicopter was staging. They slung him off by helicopter and transferred him to ambulance where he would be taken into hospital in Canmore.
We were on the ledge a total of 3 hours from time of injury to rescue.
There are no words to express the skill and efficiency of the rescue team.
Photo Gallery from the rescue
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