JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Teton County Search and Rescue was busy at it over the weekend with a variety of missions.
Horse hanky
On Friday afternoon, July 8, the team was paged to respond to a horse accident in the Darwin Ranch area of the Gros Ventre Mountains. A man in his 50s had fallen from his horse and was reportedly experiencing a head injury. Due to the remote location and nature of injury, TCSAR put in a request for the interagency helicopter.
From June 1 through September 30, TCSAR does not have a helicopter on contract, but may request one from the Teton Interagency Helitack. That request was granted, and the helicopter flew to the TCSAR hangar to pick up a volunteer heli team. With volunteers aboard as well as a USFS heli manager, the helicopter flew to the scene and the volunteers packaged the patient for transport inside the ship.
The patient was then flown to the TCSAR hangar where he was transferred to a waiting ambulance. The mission was completed in 2 hours, 44 minutes.
Missing SUPper
On Saturday, July 9, TCSAR was paged for a missing person on the whitewater stretch of the Gros Ventre River between Lower Slide Lake and Jumping Rock. The subject, who was on a stand-up paddleboard, had been missing from his party for over an hour as they waited for him to arrive at Jumping Rock.
This is the same stretch of river that claimed the life of a 55-year-old man from Ohio on June 21. As TCSAR volunteers initiated a swiftwater rescue response, the missing paddler was located and the team stood down.
Bike bummer
On Sunday afternoon, July 10, a local resident crashed on his mountain bike on the Putt-Putt Trail in Cache Creek. The man experienced severe injuries.
TCSAR initiated a primary response with a volunteer making a hasty approach from town to the accident site via mountain bike. The volunteer was able to locate the man, assess his injuries and provide initial patient care.
Meanwhile, more volunteers approached in the RZR side-by-side to the small turnaround about 1.75 miles up the Cache Creek Road. Once the rest of the team arrived, the volunteers packaged the patient for a wheeled litter transport down the trail to the RZR.
The team then drove the patient to a waiting ambulance at the trailhead, completing the mission in 2 hours, 19 minutes.
