Lutsen emergency responders and campers at Cathedral of the Pines traveled about half a mile in on the Superior Hiking Trail to assist a hiker in distress on June 20. The new wheeled rescue litter just obtained through grant funding helped the rescue go a lot quicker. Cook County ambulance met responders to pick up the patient.
The Lutsen Volunteer Fire Department had just assembled its latest piece of rescue equipment when a page for help was sounded at 6:34 p.m. on June 20, 2013. The evening that was going to be spent at the fire hall in training on the Traverse Mule, a wheeled rescue litter, was instead spent using the rescue device in a real emergency.
Cook County Law Enforcement had received a call from an instructor who had been on a hike for several days with three students, one of them in distress. The group was on the Superior Hiking Trail near Agnes Lake in Lutsen. The caller said the party was ill, breathing rapidly and not making much sense.
Lutsen emergency responders loaded the rescue wheel in the back of EMS Chief Fred Schmidt’s pickup and headed to the trailhead. It was about a half-mile hike in to the patient, on a rocky trail.
Cook County Sheriff Deputy Julie Collman was also paged and she went along on the hike and she was impressed. “The rescue litter performed exemplary in the extrication of the victim from the woods,” said Collman.
First Responder Kasia Schmidt noted that the titanium frame is extremely lightweight but sturdy. The litter weighs about 14 pounds. “It is really nice and light. I can lift it!” she said.
Lutsen firefighters were assisted by some young campers at nearby Cathedral of the Pines and had the patient out much faster than if they had not had the Traverse Mule. Its fat, overinflated tire kept the litter more stable over the bumpy path. Because the frame is so lightweight, it was also easier to completely lift and carry the litter when necessary.
“It probably made what would have been a fourhour rescue a two-hour one,” said Lutsen Firefighter John Groth.
Lutsen was able to purchase the wheeled rescue cart, which cost $3,600, thanks in part to a $1,200 grant from the North Shore Health Care Foundation. The Lutsen 99er mountain bike race has pledged another $1,200 toward the purchase.
The patient was brought out to the Caribou Trail where Lutsen responders were met by Cook County ambulance for transport to Cook County North Shore Hospital.
Leave a Reply