The Washington Region 4 Technical Rescue Team saved a rock climber who fell off a rock wall and suffered a traumatic hip injury Thursday at Beacon Rock State Park, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.
“This was a really tough one. This was a once in a career rescue effort. This is why we spend hundreds of hours training for an event like this. Everyone worked well together and performed professionally and proficiently,” Vancouver Fire said in a statement.
According to the agency, the technical rescue team was called about 1:30 p.m. to Beacon Rock State Park to assist the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office and EMS to rescue a rock climber who had fallen about 25 feet and landed on a ledge about 200 feet off the ground up a rock wall. The injured man and another climber were using ropes to ascend and established climbing path when one fell.
When the rescue team arrived, they created a plan to reach the injured climber using a rope and pulley system that would allow them to safely bring him to the ground. Team coordinator Capt. Chris McBride climbed the wall to deploy the rope system. He was followed by firefighter-paramedic Mike McHugh, who evaluated the patient and found he had significant injuries, including a traumatic hip injury. A third firefighter brought a stokes basket — a metal or plastic basket used in search and rescue to transport sick, injured or disabled people — up the rock wall to help bring the injured climber down using the rope-and-pulley system.
