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AFRCC coordinates search and rescue for injured hiker

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jared Scott
  • 601st AOC PA
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla --  Early Monday morning the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center here helped coordinate search and rescue operations with local and state agencies to save an injured hiker in the mountains near Wenatchee, Wash.

A group of hikers witnessed a man fall nearly 1,000 feet down Mt. Stuart, the second highest non-volcanic peak in Washington. After witnessing the fall, one hiker went down the mountain to contact the Chelan County Sheriff's Office. The Washington Emergency Management Department contacted the AFRCC to ask for federal assistance to rescue the hiker.

The AFRCC responded by coordinating an UH-1 helicopter from the 36th Rescue Flight at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. The helicopter and crew extracted the injured hiker with a hoist and transported him to a local hospital.

"The area where we located the hiker was in a bowl-shaped glacier covered in snow with 1,000 foot cliffs on three sides of us," said Capt. Brent Golembiewski, 36th Rescue Flight chief of safety. "After the first pass around the mountain we were flagged with a flashlight by the hiker. We lowered our medical technician down to assist the hiker and then hoisted him into the Huey and transported him to the hospital."

The 36th RQF supports the National Search-and-Rescue Plan by conducting SAR and medical evacuation missions in a 4-state region, from the Cascades in Washington to the Rockies in western Montana. The unit has the only hoist-equipped aircraft and night vision goggle-qualified aircrews in the Inland Northwest. SAR missions are conducted both day and night, often at high altitude in treacherous mountain terrain, in areas completely inaccessible by ground vehicle. The unit's unique capabilities can often mean the difference between life and death for lost or injured hikers, hunters, skiers and other outdoor enthusiasts.

The hiker was listed in critical condition when he was transported to the local hospital.

As the United States' inland search and rescue coordinator, the AFRCC serves as the single agency responsible for coordinating federal SAR activities in the 48 contiguous United States.

"AFRCC duty controllers stand watch 24-7, 365, with vast data bases of rescue assets for every state to support them with search and rescue operations," said Lt. Col. Charles Tomko, AFRCC commander. "Any time we start a mission that ends in a life saved, that's a great day."

The rescue coordination center directly ties in to the FAA's alerting system and the U.S. Mission Control Center. In addition to Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking information, the AFRCC computer system contains resource files that list federal and state organizations which can conduct or assist in SAR efforts throughout North America.