Whidbey Rescues Two from Olympics and Cascades

— from Mike Welding for NAS Whidbey —

Search and Rescue (SAR) teams from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island conducted two rescues this past weekend, one on Saturday evening, July 22 and another on Sunday, July 23, 2017. The first rescue was in the Olympic Mountains the second in the Cascade Mountains.

Saturday afternoon NAS Whidbey Island received through the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) of 36-year-old male hiker suffering a serious head injury after falling on one of The Brothers Mountains in the Olympic Mountains at an altitude around 6,000 ft. Visual conditions were challenging due to cloud cover engulfing the area where the hiker was located, preventing the crew from making visual contact with the injured man. The crew contacted then coordinated with the Jefferson County Sheriff and Olympic Mountain Rescue (OMR) to assist with getting to the victim. After holding face-to-face meetings with the ground rescuers the helicopter crew flew them to a destination above 4,000 ft. Once the ground rescue team was on scene they communicated the victim’s position to the SAR team; the crew took advantage of a break in the clouds to lower a crewman via hoist to retrieve the injured hiker and flew him to Harborview Medical Center.

According to Lt. Matthew Schwab, the mission pilot, the mission was dynamic and successful due to the close coordination and cooperation between the SAR crew and local agencies. “The timely response of all agencies involved saved this young man’s life as he had no means of getting himself off the top of an extremely steep mountainside,” Schwab said.

The second rescue of the weekend took place early Sunday evening from the Pacific Coast Trail in the Cascades at about 5,300 ft. where a 59- year-old woman had broken her ankle. After administering on scene care, the SAR crew also flew her to Harborview for more extensive care.

These were the twenty second and twenty third rescues of 2017 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR, which has also conducted four searches and 14 Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions this year.

The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation. Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to a tasking by the AFRCC for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.