LOUISVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew based at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson rescued an injured hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park March 22.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified an injured hiker needed medical assistance and rapid transport to a nearby hospital. The hiker was in a remote park area along a hiking trail near the Ramsey Cascades waterfall east of Gatlinburg.
Tennessee National Guard members assembled a flight crew and readied a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter for flight. After the mission was approved, the aircraft departed Joint Base McGhee-Tyson at about 7:20 p.m., flying directly to the rescue hoisting site determined by Park Service Rangers, who were attending to the hiker.
The Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew included two pilots, Capt. Andrew Rines and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Brasfield, crew chief Sgt. Christopher Burke, and flight paramedics, Sgts. 1st Class John Sharbel and Giovanni Dezuani.
The crew located the hiker and park rangers, who were rendering first aid.
At roughly 7:45 p.m., Burke lowered Sharbel and Dezuani to the ground by hoist to do a quick medical assessment and prepare the hiker for transport. The hiker and paramedics were hoisted into the hovering helicopter, which flew to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., the aircraft landed at the medical center and medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room. Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, the aircraft returned to Louisville and landed just before 9 p.m.