July 31, 2007
Tuesday evening a call went out to local Search and Rescue
organizations to help a young woman whose leg was trapped by a
boulder. The woman and her friends were hiking to
McNeil Point, on the northwest side of Mt Hood.
As they were crossing steep, difficult terrain off trail near the Muddy
Fork drainage (the Muddy Fork drains the Sandy Glacier), a large
boulder rolled onto the woman’s leg trapping her.
Teams from American Medical Response (AMR), Pacific Northwest
Search and Rescue (PNW), and Portland Mountain Rescue (PMR) responded to the
mission. The AMR and PNW teams were first to reach the injured woman and her
friends. By the time the SAR teams
had arrived on scene, the woman’s friends had freed and splinted her injured
leg.
Due to the difficult terrain and the suspected complications
of the woman’s injury, a ground evacuation was ruled out and the National Guard
1042nd was called in for immediate air evacuation. The remaining hikers were assisted out on
foot by rescuers.