CAMP DENALI, Alaska - The Alaska Army National Guard's 207th Aviation, based out of Bethel, was tasked by the 11th Rescue Coordination Center to support a medical evacuation mission of a three-month-old child May 8.
The Army Aviation Operating Facility in Bethel was contacted at approximately 2:30 p.m. after the Hooper Bay Clinic reported the patient to be in respiratory failure. The 207th Aviation responded with a UH-60 Black Hawk with four Alaska Army National Guardsmen and LifeMed Alaska personnel on board.
"We evaluated the weather before we headed out and it was very questionable," said Sgt. Robert Pike, crew chief, 207th Aviation, Alaska Army National Guard. "We were right above the minimum of being able to fly, but we knew we had to be there."
A UH-60 Black Hawk with pilot-in-command Chief Warrant Officer Michael Edwards and co-pilot Chief Warrant Officer Kristopher Nicholson was dispatched from Bethel at 4:40 p.m. carrying Pike, fellow crew chief, Spc. Nicholas Hann and two flight medics from LifeMed Alaska. The crew arrived at the Hooper Bay Clinic at approximately 6:10 p.m. and immediately evaluated the patient.
The patient was evaluated as stable and was loaded on the aircraft with his mother. The aircraft departed at 6:55 p.m. and arrived in Bethel at
8:15 p.m. where a LifeMed Alaska aircraft was waiting to transport the patient to Anchorage.
"I looked at this mission as a great opportunity to use the skills I learned during training," said Hann.
This was Hann's first mission, but it was Pike's 20th completed medical evacuation or search and rescue mission.
"Whether it is my 20th or 30th mission, it is always a great feeling to know I've done my job helping others in my community," said Pike.
The Alaska Army National Guard Army Aviation Operating Facility in Bethel was awarded one save for this mission.