Jackson, Wyo. — Teton County Search & Rescue volunteers were called out for rescues on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28 and 29, with both incidents utilizing the team’s leased helicopter to help bring patients out of the backcountry.
Hwy 22 was briefly closed on the afternoon of March 29 so that TCSAR volunteers could create a landing zone for a rescue mission in Mail Cabin. The short-haul line is visible below the ship. Photo: TCSAR
On Tuesday, the call came in at 1:30 p.m. regarding an injured snowmobiler on Togwotee Pass. A man in his mid 50’s had sustained injuries when he rolled his sled during a guided snowmobile trip. The initial page also concerned a missing person from the same party who had become lost after trying to sled out of the backcountry to get help. That person was eventually located while TCSAR mobilized a ground team on snowmobiles and a team of volunteers in the helicopter.
The heli team flew to the accident site and the team was able to load the patient internally for a short flight to a landing zone (LZ) and waiting ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS at the Blackrock Ranger Station on Hwy 287.
On Wednesday, TCSAR was called at 11:47 a.m. by a skier who reported his partner was having a medical issue in Mail Cabin, to the west of Teton Pass. The skier had to leave his partner behind on the trail in order to ski out to find cell phone service. TCSAR initiated a helicopter response, with ground teams as backup in case the helicopter could not fly, and to secure an LZ at a parking lot or traffic pullout on Hwy 22. The team also put in a request for Air Idaho, a private air ambulance based in Driggs, in case the patient needed a flight to a regional hospital.
Initially, the TCSAR heli team could not pinpoint the exact location of the patient due to thick timber and steep ravine features of Mail Cabin. After circling the area numerous times, the team spotted the patient near a meadow about one mile from the Coal Creek parking lot.
Teton County Sheriff Deputies were instrumental to help briefly close the highway as TCSAR volunteers rigged the ship for short-haul. Meanwhile, volunteers packaged the patient for flight and short-hauled him to an LZ on the highway, where he was transferred to an ambulance with Jackson Hole Fire/EMS. Further air resources were not needed, and all team members exited the field.