NAS Whidbey Rescues Two in Two Days; One on Lopez

— from Mike Welding, Public Affairs Officer —

The Search and Rescue (SAR) unit from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island conducted a rescue on Monday, June 27 and a Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) on Tuesday, June 28, 2016.

On Monday, the crew of five took off at 4:30 p.m. to search for a 58-year-old male who was severely dehydrated on the Pacific Crest Trail near Hopkins Lake in northern Washington.  The alert was generated through the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center when a Good Samaritan happened upon the stranded hiker and activated his own emergency beacon to request help.  The location given was very accurate and the crew found the hikers within minutes of arriving on scene at an altitude of 6,200 feet.

Based on the terrain encountered, the high altitude environment, and the temperature at that time of day, the helicopter was initially unable to hover.  Because of this, the crew found a landing zone at a lower altitude so that they could offload gear to decrease the power that would be required.  Once the helicopter was lighter, the crew conducted power checks and were able to make an approach to within 100 feet of the survivor’s location and hover so the SAR Medical Technician (SMT) could be lowered to the patient.

After completing an assessment and stabilizing the survivor, the SMT and hiker were hoisted into the aircraft.  The crew then returned to the previous landing zone and picked up their gear before transiting to the nearest hospital.  The helicopter landed at the Skagit Valley Hospital at 6:45 p.m. where they transferred the patient to the waiting ambulance.

The next day, a SAR crew of six received a call at 10:30 a.m. for assistance while they were already airborne for a training flight.  The crew immediately transitioned from training to mission and landed at the hospital pad on Lopez Island at 11:20 a.m.  The patient, a 73-year-old female suffering from complications associated with Stage 4 kidney failure, was on board the helicopter 20 minutes later.  The crew then took off to fly to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, Wash., where they landed and turned over the patient.

“It has been a busy couple of days,” said one of the SAR Mission Commanders, Lieutenant Erin Hittle, “but our maintenance personnel did a great job of having the aircraft ready when we needed them.  Both flight crews executed the missions exactly as we train and were able to help two people who really needed it.”

This was the 10th rescue and seventh MEDEVAC of 2016 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR.  In 2015, the unit conducted 19 MEDEVAC missions, 11 searches and seven rescues, resulting in 29 lives delivered to higher level care.

The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation. The base also has an agreement to assist Washington State and the surrounding areas with medical evacuations and search and rescue activities if other assets are unavailable.