South Asheville News

From January 22, 2023 post.

At approximately 1300 on Saturday the 21st the rescue squad was dispatched to a report of a mountain biker who suffered a significant injury on Bennett Gap trail. Squad members had been gathered at the station cleaning and organizing our back bays when the call went out enabling us to quickly respond with 4 apparatus and over a dozen members.

Crews arrived on scene and mobilized three teams. Due to the unknown passibility of trails in the area two hasty atv teams with paramedic support were dispatched along different routes to access the patient and a foot team departed to provide support for the suspected prolonged carryout. Team one quickly encountered unpassable trail and split into two self sufficient elements. One continued ahead on foot to make patient contact and the second returned to command to stage the ambulance closer to the patient’s location. Team 2 worked to make access via a decommissioned forest service road but after cutting several downed trees they encountered an impassable section of trail requiring them to continue on foot. Teams 2 and 3 merged and continued on foot from that point.

Team 3 made patient contact 3.1 miles from command and began providing care 41 minutes after departing command. They found a critically injured biker located high on Bennett Gap requiring immediate evacuation. After a thorough assessment the patient was packaged and transferred into a stokes basket and wheel. While one team worked to move the patient in the basket a second moved obstacles and cut downed trees to clear the path and a third worked ahead rigging systems to belay the litter down particularly steep sections of trail. The patient’s riding partners assisted crews managing the litter and provided support throughout the carryout. After reaching the ambulance the patient was transported to a waiting MAMA helicopter for rapid transport to definitive treatment at our local trauma center. We wish them a speedy recovery.

This was the squad’s second rescue in 24 hours. Friday night members spent several hours hiking in the dark searching for three lost persons in the cat gap area. In between calls members managed to powerwash the bay floor and rejuvenate half the station. Needless to say it’s been a busy weekend so far and our members have earned some good rest. Much appreciation our local partners at Transylvania County EMS enabling us to provide ALS care deep in Pisgah National Forest, U.S. Forest Service - National Forests in North Carolina's rangers for providing support, MAMA - Mountain Area Medical Airlift for the diligence of their crew on scene, and our members families for supporting them and tolerating their absences for missions and training.

Original source can be found here.