FLAGSTAFF — On May 10th at approximately 2:30 pm 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. The adult male victim was believed to have a broken leg and was 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 and a Coconino County Sheriff’s Office SAR volunteer who is trained as a heli-rescue technician boarded the helicopter and performed heli-rappel into the scene.

Once on scene the SAR heli-rescue technician and Pine-Strawberry Fire District personnel packaged the patient on a backboard and then placed him in a Bauman Bag device for the short-haul. The patient and the SAR heli-rescue technician were then short-hauled out of the canyon to the intersection of State Route 260 and State Route 87 where a ground ambulance was waiting for the patient.

This mission was another good example of interagency coordination among northern Arizona responders and the Department of Public Safety Aviation Bureau.