On November 5th at 4:00 pm, the Iron County Technical Ropes Rescue Team received a call out for a fall. The victim was a 52 year old male that fell approximately 50 feet in an abandoned mine in a rural part of Iron County. Helicopters were dispatched from Life Flight, SUU Aviation, and Mercy Air. Additional resources were requested and responded such as the Washington County Southwest Regional Confined Space Rescue. Life Flight was the first to arrive on scene and made verbal contact with the patient. A Deputy with the Iron County Sheriffs office then arrived on scene and began talking with the patient.
Life Flight left the scene to transport members from the Iron County Ropes Team and their gear to the scene. This dramatically reduced the response time in rescuing the victim. Life Flight then had to leave the scene due to incoming weather. Once the ropes team arrived on scene, they immediately descended down the mine shaft and made visual contact with the victim. It was apparent to the rescuer that the victim had sustained substantial head trauma, and was in an altered state. An additional rescuer was lowered to assist and they were able to place the patient in the litter and raise him out of the mine. Once out of the mine, Gold Cross ambulance was on scene and took over patient care. The patient was transported with medical staff in a Deputy’s patrol truck to the ambulance.
