August 14th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

A Maryland State Police helicopter crew rescues three people in two separate hoist missions Sunday in West Virginia.

Shortly after 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, the Maryland State Police Aviation Command was called to perform an aerial rescue for an injured hiker and his teenage son.  The father-son pair had been out in the woods in Tucker County, West Virginia since Saturday, when the father suffered an injury. Trooper 5, based out of the Cumberland Section, was requested for the aerial rescue due to the rescuers’ limited resources, terrain difficulties, an extended extrication time and the nature of the father’s injuries.  

The helicopter was configured for a hoist while the pilots filed for an instrument flight rules clearance.  These rules are rules and regulations to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe.  Once overhead, the 49-year-old injured hiker, and his 13-year-old son, were located along the Red Creek Trail in Dolly Sods along the river. 

The pilots maneuvered the August AW-139 helicopter into a steady 170-foot hover above the terrain, while a state trooper/flight paramedic was lowered below. The trooper/paramedic, obtained report from EMS personnel, performed an assessment on the injured man and secured him in a ARVQC Rescue Vest, commonly called the “screamer suit.” The patient was hoisted into the helicopter while the trooper remained on the ground until the patient’s son was also hoisted into the helicopter with the screamer suit. 

Once all persons were hoisted inside the helicopter, Trooper 5 transitioned into a medevac role and the adult patient was transported to the J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, located in Morgantown, West Virginia, for treatment of his injuries.

The second rescue occurred in the same region of Tucker County, West Virginia at about 2:50 p.m. on Sunday. Trooper 5 was returning from the previous mission when this hoist request was made. Once overhead of the hoist location, the injured hiker, a 55-year-old man, was located alongside the Red Creek Trail in Dolly Sods adjacent to the river’s edge.

The pilots maneuvered the helicopter into a steady 150-foot hover above the terrain, while a state trooper/flight paramedic was lowered below. The trooper/paramedic, obtained report from EMS personnel, performed an assessment on the injured man and with assistance from rescuers with the Harman, Canaan, Davis, and Whitmer (West Virginia) fire companies, secured him in a patient extrication platform. Once the injured man was hoisted inside the helicopter, Trooper 5 transitioned into a medevac role and he was also transported to the J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment of his injuries.