(MASONTOWN, WV) – Over Fourth of July weekend, Maryland State Police Aviation Command (MSPAC) performed an aerial hoist rescue to transport an injured person in Preston County, West Virginia.
On Sunday, July 6 at approximately 8 p.m., rescue personnel from Preston County, West Virginia responded to a remote area on a mountain to rescue and transport an injured person who rolled a UTV side-by-side. Due to the victim’s remote location, extended extrication time, and the nature of the victim’s injures, MSPAC was requested to perform an aerial hoist rescue. Trooper 5, the MSP helicopter based in Cumberland, Maryland, was dispatched to the area.
Emergency medical services and rescue personnel maintained patient care during ground operations and assisted with the packaging of the patient. A Trooper/Rescue Technician was lowered down to the scene into a clearing on a sandbar on Cheat River, and the victim was prepared for aerial extraction via a patient extrication platform.
As the pilots from Trooper 5 hovered over the wooded area near Cheat River, they maneuvered the Augusta AW-139 into a steady 100-foot hover and successfully hoisted the victim into the helicopter. Once the patient was hoisted safely to the aircraft, the flight crew was able to transition directly into the medical evacuation role and transported the victim directly to West Virginia University Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia, for further assessment and treatment.
The MSPAC has served since 1970 and operates a fleet of ten AW139 helicopters from seven bases in Maryland. Each aircraft provides round-the-clock coverage to Maryland residents and visitors. The agency’s missions include medevac, law enforcement, search and rescue, homeland security and disaster assessment. The success of the missions relies heavily on the cooperative efforts of local fire, rescue, EMS, law enforcement agencies and partners at the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Park Police.
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CONTACT: First Sergeant Jeffrey Leppert, (301) 777-8400
Maryland State Police Aviation Command – Cumberland Section
