Three ambulances were dispatched to Lutsen Mountains on Saturday, February 27, to transport five people injured while skiing and snowboarding on Bull Run.
Lutsen Mountains Ski Patrol contacted Cook County Law Enforcement at 9:47 a.m. reporting that they had two injured skiers needing transport to Cook County/North Shore Hospital.
Just a few minutes later, at 9:53 a.m., the Ski Patrol reported that they had three more patients and a second ambulance was requested. Both ambulances were en route to the ski hill at 9:58 a.m.
The injuries occurred when two young females collided after one fell after skiing over a hill. Following her was a second young girl who was unable to stop. She crashed into the fallen skier. Their injuries were compounded when three more skiers, also unable to stop, crashed into them. All of the skiers suffered injuries, ranging from non-life-threatening arm, leg and back injuries to possible internal injuries and a head injury.
Lutsen First Responders joined members of the Lutsen Ski Patrol at 10:08 a. m. The patients were brought down the hill to the Ski Patrol building to meet Cook County Ambulance at 10:11 a.m. The most seriously injured patient was quickly loaded onto the ambulance and transported, reaching the hospital at 10:36 a.m. While the ambulance was on its way back to the hospital, a helicopter from Life Link was requested to transport the critically injured girl.
The second ambulance arrived on scene at 10:17 a.m. and a third ambulance was paged at 10:20 a.m. Because both on-call and off-duty ambulance members had already responded, Lake County Ambulance was paged to standby in case it was needed. More off-duty Cook County Ambulance members were able to respond and Lake County Ambulance was cancelled. The third Cook County ambulance was en route at 10:23 a.m. arriving on scene at 10:44 a.m.
The second ambulance arrived back at the hospital at 10:46 a.m., followed by the third at 11:42 a.m. With five emergency patients in the emergency room, the hospital was declared to be in “Code Green” status.
The most severely injured patient was flown to a Duluth hospital by Life Link. The rest of the victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were treated and released or released to another medical facility.
All of the injured parties were part of the same 40-person youth group. Lutsen Mountains Co-President Charles Skinner said, “Our hearts and prayers are with the injured parties from this past Saturday’s accident.
“From the information that has been passed on to us, we are relieved that four of the injuries were less serious, with all four being released from the hospital fairly quickly, and that the one more seriously injured girl with a concussion is up and walking and seems to be improving.
“We are also grateful that all of the injured parties were wearing helmets, which may have protected them from more serious injuries. We hope for a full recovery from all of the injured parties,” said Skinner.
Later that day, at 12:27 p.m., Lutsen Ski Patrol called for help again. Cook County Ambulance was paged to the ski hill for a 57-year-old woman with hip and shoulder injuries. The ambulance was on scene by 12:51 p.m. and back at the hospital by 1:49 p.m. No further information is available on the woman’s condition.
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