JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Army National Guard aviators rescued an injured mountain biker Sept. 13 from the Winner Creek Trail near Girdwood after the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received a request for assistance from the Alaska State Troopers.
An HH-60M medevac Black Hawk helicopter and crew assigned to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska Army National Guard, responded to the mission to evacuate the injured biker.
Girdwood Fire Department and Alaska Mountain Rescue Group personnel responded on the ground and prepared the patient for aerial evacuation. The ground teams provided the aircrew with an accurate location and prepared the patient for the hoist rescue before the Black Hawk arrived.
The HH-60 aircrew located the patient in brush and mountainous terrain along the Winner Creek Trail and used the aircraft’s hoist to bring the patient aboard safely.
“The coordination between the RCC, Girdwood Fire Department, the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and our aircrew and flight medics was outstanding,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Mike Miller, pilot in command. “The ground teams gave us great coordinates and had the patient perfectly prepared when we arrived, which allowed us to quickly bring the patient aboard the aircraft.”
After the rescue, the aircrew transported the patient to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage and transferred the patient to hospital medical personnel for additional care.