A seriously injured man was picked up at Mount Cain on Vancouver Island and rushed to the Vancouver hospital by helicopter on Sunday
Rescuers from North Vancouver rushed into the Vancouver Island backcountry on Sunday after a man was seriously injured in an avalanche.
North Shore Rescue said Campbell River Search and Rescue called for help with a medical rescue on a ski hill near Port McNeill.
Volunteers who help operate Mount Cain ski facilities made their way to the avalanche victim on the ground, while NSR flew to the mountain on Talon Helicopters using night vision goggles. On board were rescue techs and an ER physician with advanced medical gear.
Cloudy conditions made flying difficult but the chopper was able to land at Mount Cain shortly after volunteers brought the man out of the field.
He was treated there and on the helicopter, while the decision was made to fly directly to Vancouver General Hospital due to his serious injuries and need for urgent trauma care.
Paramedics and medical personnel met the team at the VGH pad and the patient was taken into hospital for more treatment and surgery.
“This marks the first time that North Shore Rescue has been able to fly a critically injured subject directly to the helicopter landing pad at Vancouver General Hospital,” NSR said in the post. Typically the helicopter would transfer a patient to a ground ambulance, usually at the North Shore Rescue base in North Vancouver. “We have recently been granted the ability to do so for ‘life or limb’ type situations, where access to advanced medical care is time critical for patient outcomes.”
NSR thanked Vancouver Coastal Health, VGH and B.C. Emergency Health Services paramedics for making these kinds of rescues possible. “This initiative has the potential to save lives in the years to come,” it said.
The rescue group also credited provincial patient transfer coordination staff, the charge nurse in the VGH emergency department who helped make NSR’s first rooftop landing happen seamlessly, and all the medical staff at VGH.
