A broken cell phone call came in to Cook County Law Enforcement dispatch at 1:18 p.m. on Friday, September 27, asking for help for a hiker with a broken foot about a third of a mile in on the Superior Hiking Trail in the Hovland area.
Hovland and Colvill emergency responders were paged, along with Cook County Ambulance. Rescuers headed to where they thought the hiker might be. The Superior Hiking Trail intersects with the Arrowhead Trail in Hovland about eight miles up, but it was not known if the hiker was east or west of the Arrowhead.
Fortunately, when the first responders from Hovland arrived at 1:40 p.m. there were people at the hiking trailhead that could tell responders where they could find the injured person, a 16-year-old girl. She had apparently tripped on some rocks and injured her foot.
Hovland/Grand Portage EMT Jon Sage, one of the responders, said it took over an hour to hike in and get the young woman out of the woods. The first responders to reach the woman got her leg splinted and got her on a backboard and that was used, with four people on each side of the backboard, to carry her out.
Sage said members of search and rescue arrived and considered bringing in a litter wheel to transport the patient, but it was determined that the terrain was too difficult to use the wheel on. Much of the trail was a rocky, 45-degree-angle path.
There were about a dozen Cook County responders, including members of the Hovland and Colvill fire departments, Cook County Ambulance and Border Patrol. It was a good emergency responder turnout, but Sage said they were thankful for the assistance of bystanders. He said there were some young men hiking who dropped their backpacks and joined the rescue effort. “It would have been really bad to get back in there and have to call for more help,” said Sage.
“In a case like this, additional support is always welcome,” said Sage. “Everyone did a great job.”
The young woman was taken to North Shore Hospital by the Cook County Ambulance.
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