New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents throughout New York State locating and extracting lost, injured or distressed people and policing state lands.
This report of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers was prepared by DEC:
Town of Keene, Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On July 29 at 6:56 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call about a 14-year-old from Camp Chingachgook who lost consciousness near the Elk Pass area of Nippletop Mountain.
Forest Ranger Quinn spoke to a camp counselor on the phone and advised the counselor to move the teenager from Needham to the shade and aggressively cool off the subject with water. New York State Police (NYSP) Aviation was approved. NYSP Pilot Engel flew Rangers Lewis and O’Dell to a swamp near the campers.
Rangers carried the 14-year-old through the swamp, which at some points was waist deep water and mud, to the helicopter.
Pilot Engel flew the patient to an ambulance staged at Marcy Field. Ranger Quinn suggested the remaining campers spend the night and hike out in the morning because they were fatigued from a full day of hiking and did not have enough headlamps. The group later safely returned to camp. Resources were clear at 8:43 p.m.
Town of Keene, Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On July 29 at 7:51 p.m., Forest Rangers responded to the Leach Trail at Adirondack Mountain Reserve for a 19-year-old experiencing fatigue and cramping. Rangers reached the subject and assisted the hiker to their vehicle in the Reserve parking lot. The patient declined to seek further medical attention on their own. Resources were clear at 9:53 p.m.
Town of North Elba, Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On Aug. 2 at 3:50 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a radio transmission from the Algonquin Summit Steward about a hiker suffering from dehydration and having difficulty walking. The 28-year-old from Owego was approximately 0.25 miles above the Wright-Algonquin intersection and did not have any food. The Summit Steward rehydrated the subject while Forest Rangers responded.
At 5:17 p.m., Ranger H. Praczkajlo made contact with the hiker as they slowly made their way down. At 11:34 p.m., the subject began experiencing seizure activity at the Whale’s Tail Ski Trail junction. Five Rangers provided medical care and carried out the subject the last few hundred feet to a UTV. Rangers turned over the subject to Lake Placid EMS, who transported the patient to the hospital.
Town of Elizabethtown, Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On Aug. 3 at 3 p.m., Essex County 911 requested Forest Ranger assistance with a hiker who had fallen into the first pool at Split Rock Falls. The 50-year-old from Peru, New York, suffered head and back injuries.
Forest Rangers Bode, Lewis, and Quinn worked with New York State Police and the Keene and North Hudson Fire Departments to complete a high-angle rope rescue. At 5 p.m., rescuers turned over care of the hiker to Life Net, which flew the patient to the hospital.
Read past Forest Ranger search and rescue reports here.
Photo of Forest Ranger Lewis carrying hiker to helicopter during Nippletop rescue provided by DEC.
Source link
