Helicopter Rescues in Tasmania

[Overlandman]

About 1330hrs today the Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to evacuate a 50 year old Queensland woman from Surprise Bay on the South Coast Track.
The woman was suffering from injuries to both her feet. She was flown to Hobart in a stable condition.

From
http://www.tasmanianairrescuetrust.org/media-releases

[JamesMc]

Blisters?

JamesMc

[biggbird]

Leeches?

[Overlandman]

On Wednesday 13 February 2013 the Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to attend the Freycinet National Park to rescue a female tourist who had broken her ankle walking towards Wineglass Bay.

The helicopter flew to the area and winched the female from the area. She was transported to Hobart in a satisfactory condition.

[wayno]

but that's a footpath..... all the steeper bits have nicely made steps....

[Tortoise]

I broke mine stepping out of a caravan

[wayno]

the steps at freycinet are small, easy for kids to climb...

[tasadam]

Yeah, stuff happens, and depending on where it happened a helicopter can be a far more attractive option to the prospect of carrying someone over a track (given the alternative, of course).

[wayno]

aint no surf lifesavers to help at that beach....

[ryantmalone]

On Wednesday 13 February 2013 the Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked to attend the Freycinet National Park to rescue a female tourist who had broken her ankle walking towards Wineglass Bay.

The helicopter flew to the area and winched the female from the area. She was transported to Hobart in a satisfactory condition.

Is anyone else tempted to give this thread a serious identity crisis and ask whether she was wearing low cut trail runners or not?

[ILUVSWTAS]

Being Wineglass, it's likely she was in heels.

[doogs]

No age given, I have passed many very frail and elderly folk on that track whose bones would snap at the slightest twist on the granite gravel.

[wayno]

Being Wineglass, it's likely she was in heels.

yup or flip flops....,, its a place for beachgoers.....
might have slipped on the fine gravel thats around..

[rich]

No age given, I have passed many very frail and elderly folk on that track whose bones would snap at the slightest twist on the granite gravel.

Yup, same thought here. Maybe coming unstuck on the natural steps down to the beach. Still a helicopter is a bit overkill isnt it.

[ryantmalone]

Still a helicopter is a bit overkill isnt it.

It's probably cheaper than sending in 3 - 4 people to carry a stretcher out (was she at Wineglass, or further on towards Mt Graham?), then ambulance transfer to the nearest hospital, which if the injury is a particularly bad one, may need to be either Hobart or Launceston.

[Miyata610]

Still a helicopter is a bit overkill isnt it.

It's probably cheaper than sending in 3 - 4 people to carry a stretcher out (was she at Wineglass, or further on towards Mt Graham?), then ambulance transfer to the nearest hospital, which if the injury is a particularly bad one, may need to be either Hobart or Launceston.

It takes a lot more than 3 or 4 people to get a stretcher any kind of distance on a track, even a good one.

[wayno]

its a hilly enough track,,, you ideally need eight or more people on the stretcher and ideally you want to spell them with another eight people if you're on hilly or rough terrain...
i had to do a stretcher carry for four hours one day, admitedly in a pretty rough stream, there were plenty of people there to rotate through carrying the stretcher, but it was still one of the most exhausting day's ive had..
normally the time taken to assemble a decent size team for the stretcher carry is also another part of the process that slows down the rescue...
normally if the rescure is any distance from a road you'll only carry if you can't extract the person by helicopter... and you'll just carry to where the helicopter can extract them

[Overlandman]

From the Examiner

A Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter has carried out a rescue in the state's south west wilderness today.
The helicopter flew to the area and located nine bush walkers after a personal safety beacon was activated in the Ironbound Range
The helicopter landed and treated a man at the scene for an unknown medical condition.
The man was transported from the area to the Cenotaph in a stable condition.


(Hey Wayno, I think it was Indigestion )

[wayno]

probably those frigging dehy meal brand people have been complaining about....

[biggbird]

Was heading up Hartz Peak today and saw a chopper coming
back, thought I might hear something about it here! Hope whoever it was is ok

[Overlandman]

From the Advocate Newspaper

THREE Victorian tourists have had lucky escapes in three separate incidents yesterday when they were winched to safety by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

The first incident occurred about 2.30pm when the helicopter responded to reports of a seriously ill Victorian woman.

The 63-year-old woman was flown by helicopter to the Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.

As the helicopter arrived at the hospital with the ill Victorian woman a PRB activation and reports of a woman with a broken ankle were simultaneously radioed to the chopper.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter attended to the PRB activation first, which had been activated in the vicinity of the Farmhouse Creek track to Federation Peak.

A 48-year-old Victorian man and his walking companion were winched to safety after the man had suffered a serious leg injury.

The operation involved several winches and a Tasmania Police rescue crewman and an Ambulance Tasmania paramedic.

The man was then flown back to the helicopter base where he was driven to hospital.

Finally, the helicopter responded to reports of a woman with a broken ankle at Mt McCall.

By this time, night had fallen and considerably limited vision for the helicopter.

A 58-year-old Victorian woman was located approximately 50 metres from the Franklin River in a deep gorge with a badly broken ankle.

Due to the use of night vision goggles a paramedic was winched to the scene on the edge of a cliff.

The woman was then rescued and flown to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

[wayno]

must be the weekend....

[wander]

A Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter has carried out a rescue in the state's south west wilderness today.
The helicopter flew to the area and located nine bush walkers after a personal safety beacon was activated in the Ironbound Range
The helicopter landed and treated a man at the scene for an unknown medical condition.
The man was transported from the area to the Cenotaph in a stable condition.

We met this group by which time there was 7 by our count? Not sure what happened to the difference. The winch off the Ironbounds we were told was due to cramp.

[wayno]

interesting, question is did they hit the locator beacon almost as soon as the cramp hit>?
hot day\? dehydrated>? did they stop and drink more water before hitting the locator beacon?
cramp is something you need to have an idea on how to treat other than hitting a locator beacon...

[tibboh]

nice sunset last night. Nice conditions for a chopper ride!

[ryantmalone]

A Tasmania Police Westpac Rescue Helicopter has carried out a rescue in the state's south west wilderness today.
The helicopter flew to the area and located nine bush walkers after a personal safety beacon was activated in the Ironbound Range
The helicopter landed and treated a man at the scene for an unknown medical condition.
The man was transported from the area to the Cenotaph in a stable condition.

We met this group by which time there was 7 by our count? Not sure what happened to the difference. The winch off the Ironbounds we were told was due to cramp.

Since I was around 10 or 11, I've suffered from severe cramping. If a broken leg on the pain scale is a 5, the pain I get from a cramp is around a 9, and continues as a 7 for a few hours, unless I walk or stretch it out.

Just something that I am blessed with I suppose.

Regardless of how painful a cramp is, it's a temporary condition, often capable of being walked or stretched out.

If someone really did activate their PLB because of a cramp, that's just downright infuriating. Such a waste of resources.

[Overlandman]

At approximately 6:00pm on Saturday 23/2/13 a 24 year old female from Germany was on a bushwalk in southwest Tasmania with a male companion from New South Wales. They were both returning from the summit of Federation Peak when the female badly broke her left ankle a short distance from Berchervaise Plateau. The couple were able to make it to the campsite but did not have a PLB or Satellite phone to raise the alarm.

At 5:30am am on Sunday the NSW man began the two day walk to Farmhouse Creek to raise the alarm. Fortunately he met 2 other males, also from New South Wales, about 3 hours into his journey. These men were walking up the Moss Ridge Track towards Federation Peak and had hired a PLB.

The PLB was activated when they all returned to Berchervaise Plateau and the Police Rescue Helicopter was subsequently activated by Australian Search and Rescue. The female was treated at the scene then flown to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The Australian Safety Authority and Tasmania Police Search and Rescue strongly recommend purchasing or hiring a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) when embarking on bushwalks in Tasmania’s wilderness. The injured female in this case would have had to wait 2 days until she was even reported overdue had another walking party not been in the area.

[byrnesy8]

Ironbound rescue

In the interests of people's curiosity and avoiding unhelpful speculation I can provide more detail on this incident.

I was one of the nine member party that activated the beacon.

The person who was unwell was experiencing extreme cramping. The decision made to activate the beacon was taken after some significant discussion including advice from two doctors who were in the party.

As it turned out, the person flown out had his condition only fully diagnosed a day later and the situation easily qualified as a "life threatening" situation. If he had kept walking he could have died even with rest. I will not go into the medical condition except to say it was complex and required blood tests.

The person involved is back home safe and well.

A couple of observations and reflections:
- the rescue service is fantastic and the staff are very professional
- with the benefit of hindsight the rescue staff advised that we could have set of the beacon earlier
- some medical situations are very complex and the diagnosis and assessment of severity are difficult to make out on a walk even if you are lucky enough to have doctors in your group
- cramping can be due to reasons other than not drinking enough water
- the rescue service said they much preferred to fly out living people than corpses
- media coverage will be somewhat superficial given limited facts available at the time and due to privacy obligations

[wayno]

very good of you to clarify the situation. something that often doesnt happen from the media regarding rescues.
most rescue articles in the media are left with vague information
theres another thread about a nz man who may have activated a beacon because he was late.. but no journo has tried or been able to contact the man in question to get his point of view...
the articles on these rescues often beg more questions than they answer. they would almost be better not attempting to give a reason for the rescue.

[north-north-west]

A 48-year-old Victorian man and his walking companion were winched to safety after the man had suffered a serious leg injury.
The operation involved several winches and a Tasmania Police rescue crewman and an Ambulance Tasmania paramedic.
The man was then flown back to the helicopter base where he was driven to hospital.

Yep, I thought it was them.
I saw this pair last year, on my first attempt at Bobs. They were walking out after a failed attempt at Fedders as I was walking in.
This year, I hit the track earlier and found, at the carpark, the same car that had been there waiting for them last year, same details in the logbook. Guess they're just unlucky.

At approximately 6:00pm on Saturday 23/2/13 a 24 year old female from Germany was on a bushwalk in southwest Tasmania with a male companion from New South Wales. They were both returning from the summit of Federation Peak when the female badly broke her left ankle a short distance from Berchervaise Plateau. The couple were able to make it to the campsite but did not have a PLB or Satellite phone to raise the alarm.

And I think this was the pair of hippies who were having a leisurely lunch by the creek as I was walking out. The timing and details are right.
All that activity going on and I didn't manage to stuff up badly enough to be part of it. Will have to try harder next time.
Not that I have any intention of thereever being a next time for Me & Sydney.