mzamp
04-23-2014, 11:42 AM
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/2014/04/22/dps-works-rescue-injured-hiker-roosevelt-lake-abrk/8029449/
Crews hiked two miles and swam upstream to rescue a man who sustained head injuries and was knocked unconscious from a climbing fall in a canyon at Roosevelt Lake on Tuesday, according to the Tonto Rim Search and Rescue Team.
The man's friend called 911 around 1:15 p.m. after hiking 30 minutes back to his car to get cell-phone service, Scott said. The man told the dispatcher his friend was injured after falling near the Salome Canyon on the east side of the lake, located in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix.
A rappel anchor that the climber was using broke about 25 feet above a pool at a waterfall near Salome Canyon, causing him to fall. The fall resulted in a head injury that knocked him unconscious, according to Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Tonto Basin Fire crews responded to the situation and hiked more than two miles to the canyon's mouth, according to a statement from the rescue team. A medic then swam approximately 600 feet upstream to the man's location to stabilize him and prepare him to be airlifted out of the area, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Due to daylight and possible wind concerns, crews prepared two different methods of extraction from the canyon, including a vertical extraction and a long-line extraction, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
The helicopter was called to the scene a little before 4:30 p.m. Once the man was air lifted out, the medical helicopter was expected to take the climber to a Phoenix trauma center, Scott said.
After assessing the situation, the DPS helicopter decided that they could perform a long-line rescue mid-canyon and successfully extracted the man, who was alert and conscious, from the canyon.
Once the man was evacuated, crews swam and hiked back out of the canyon.
Crews hiked two miles and swam upstream to rescue a man who sustained head injuries and was knocked unconscious from a climbing fall in a canyon at Roosevelt Lake on Tuesday, according to the Tonto Rim Search and Rescue Team.
The man's friend called 911 around 1:15 p.m. after hiking 30 minutes back to his car to get cell-phone service, Scott said. The man told the dispatcher his friend was injured after falling near the Salome Canyon on the east side of the lake, located in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix.
A rappel anchor that the climber was using broke about 25 feet above a pool at a waterfall near Salome Canyon, causing him to fall. The fall resulted in a head injury that knocked him unconscious, according to Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Tonto Basin Fire crews responded to the situation and hiked more than two miles to the canyon's mouth, according to a statement from the rescue team. A medic then swam approximately 600 feet upstream to the man's location to stabilize him and prepare him to be airlifted out of the area, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
Due to daylight and possible wind concerns, crews prepared two different methods of extraction from the canyon, including a vertical extraction and a long-line extraction, said Tonto Rim Search and Rescue.
The helicopter was called to the scene a little before 4:30 p.m. Once the man was air lifted out, the medical helicopter was expected to take the climber to a Phoenix trauma center, Scott said.
After assessing the situation, the DPS helicopter decided that they could perform a long-line rescue mid-canyon and successfully extracted the man, who was alert and conscious, from the canyon.
Once the man was evacuated, crews swam and hiked back out of the canyon.