Helicopter Crew Completes 100-Foot Long Line Rescue at Point Reyes

By Bay City News Service:

A Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter crew completed a long line rescue of an injured woman at the Point Reyes Lighthouse Saturday, sheriff’s officials said.

At about 4:45 p.m. Saturday, the Marin County Fire Department and National Park Rangers called on a crew with Henry 1, a Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter, to help rescue a woman who fell at the Point Reyes Lighthouse at Point Reyes National Seashore, according to sheriff’s officials.

When the Henry 1 crew arrived about 15 minutes later, rescuers on the ground advised the crew that the woman could not walk because of her injuries.

The trail leading to the woman was about 650 yards long and the change in elevation along the trail was about 300 feet. Because of the woman’s injuries and the challenge of transporting her up the trail, the Henry 1 crew opted to use the long-line method to transport her to an ambulance, according to sheriff’s officials.

Henry 1’s pilot flew two crewmembers, a paramedic and sergeant/EMT, to the lighthouse where they secured the woman to a rescue stretcher.

The pilot then flew the rescuers and the woman on a 100-foot long line to a road above the lighthouse where a Marin County Fire Ambulance was waiting.

Henry 1’s crew regularly trains for long line rescues along the North Coast of California.

(Image via Shutterstock)