JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Alaska Air National Guardsmen of the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued a climber injured during a fall April 1 near Glacier View about 80 miles northeast of Anchorage.
Despite being attached to a belay line, the climber was injured during the fall when he collided with another member of his climbing party. A party member used a cellphone to call the Alaska State Troopers after leaving to find a cellular signal.
The troopers requested assistance from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at JBER, which asked for help from the 176th Wing. The wing search and rescue duty officer determined a 210th RQS HH-60G Pave Hawk could make the round trip without refueling. The helicopter launched with two 212th RQS pararescuemen (PJs), paramedics versed in Alaska wilderness operations.
The HH-60G landed near the injured climber and disembarked the PJs. Alaska Air National Guard Master Sgt. Daniel Lutz, 212th RQS PJ, said it didn’t take long to medically assess the patient before evacuation.
“We air landed about 100 yards away, walked across Caribou Creek and picked him up,” Lutz said. “We were on the ground about 15 minutes assessing him, getting vitals, and then getting him on the aircraft.”
The PJs continued medical care during the short flight to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, where medical providers took over.
For this rescue, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the 210th RQS and 212th RQS received credit for one save.