Sitka Search and Rescue responded to its third call in two days on Monday (6-22-15) after receiving a report that a woman had fallen nearly 40 feet down a cliff in Herring Cove.
KCAW’s Vanessa Walker reports.
SAR captain Lance Ewers says the injured person, described as a woman in her mid-20s, first called a family member or friend. When that person arrived at the site, they called 911. That call came in around 10 p.m. Monday.
Ewers says the fall was likely due to overgrown vegetation.
“Because this time of the year, and the growth that we have here in Sitka, you don’t see these unbelievably dangerous edges,” Ewers said. “This person we think didn’t see the edge. When she took a step, it was anywhere from a 30-40 foot drop,” he said.
Because of the location and conditions at the time, personnel from both the Sitka police and fire departments joined search and rescue volunteers in the response.
“Ambulance, firefighters, and search and rescue were able to rappel down to the person, we got the city’s boat, the emergency response vessel–we got them out there,” Ewers said. “We were able to stabilize the patient and load the patient onto the boat, bring the patient via the emergency response vehicle over to crescent harbor where we loaded them into an ambulance and brought them over to the hospital,” he said.
Ewers says the patient suffered “significant” injuries. She was taken to Mt. Edgecumb Hospital for treatment. He says the full effort took about 45 minutes.
Monday’s call followed two separate calls on Sunday (9-21-2015) from hikers on Bear Mountain and Mt. Verstovia.
“They say things happen in threes, as funny as those old sayings are. There’s a reason why there’s old sayings, right?” he said
But, he says, this is the busiest time of the year for search and rescue.
“This is a recreation part of the year. The sun it out late and it’s summertime. People are vacationing and here visiting and enjoying the weather we’ve been having. I think this is what we prepare for,” he said.
Ewers praised all the first responders for their speedy action.
