In late afternoon March 30, WCSART received a 911 call from Menifee County dispatch for an injured hiker at Broke Leg Falls. The female subject was hiking downstream in a very rugged and cliffy area when she sustained a significant lower leg injury. Menifee County Fire and EMS were already on scene upon the team’s arrival and advised that a typical carryout would not be possible due to her location and rough terrain.
Team members then accessed a cliff line near and above her location. As a result of the tornado that hit this area several years ago, the team faced a lot of blowdown, and proper anchors dictated the raise operation. In addition, a high directional anchor was also not present, so we utilized the Arizona Vortex as an artificial high directional (AHD) on the cliffs edge. This was the first time we’ve had to use this tool as typically we have trees for a high directional along cliff lines, but that wasn’t the case today.
Once the setup of the AHD and raise/lower system was completed, a team paramedic was lowered over the cliff with a stokes basket. He, along with Menifee County Fire members, packaged the patient in the basket for the raise up the 100 foot cliff face. Team members then utilized the 3:1 haul system to raise the paramedic and the patient top side where she was handed off to EMS.
This was a very technical rope operation, and countless hours of training paid off. We wish the hiker a very speedy recovery.
