Mountain Rescue

Six of us performed a wilderness rescue off Mt. Chocorua on 2 November 2001. We carried a hiker with a broken leg for 2.5 miles down to the trailhead parking lot, using a makeshift litter.

The accident occurred around 1:30 pm as Pat and her two companions were hiking down the Champney Falls Trail. Pat slipped on a rock and broke her leg just above the ankle. Diane and Jayne, both nurses, splinted the leg and gave Pat pain medication. They were in the process of constructing a wilderness litter, when our group of three -- Tom, Chuck and Fred -- caught up with them. Ellen (a solo hiker) also joined us.

The litter consisted of two trailside poles and two jackets. Diane and Jayne slipped the poles through the jacket arms and then zipped the bodies to make a carrying surface. Pat sat up on the rear jacket with her feet resting on the front one. The nurses wanted to keep Pat's leg elevated and as motionless as possible during the ride down.

It took us a while to figure out how to carry Pat efficiently. Eventually we got into a rhythm with four hikers carrying (one at each litter corner) and two recuperating. We developed a live-handoff technique, swapping one corner at a time, without stopping forward motion. Our goal was to get Pat off the mountain safely and quickly. Chuck -- in particularly good physical shape -- carried one corner the whole way. Pat's light weight helped a lot. We covered 2.5 miles in about 1.5 hours, reaching the parking lot at about 3:30 pm.

We attempted to call 911 on our cell phone, but there was no coverage on the north side of Chocorua. Early on, two women hikers went on ahead to make the call for us when their cell phone got in range. When we were about a half mile from the trailhead, Brian from NH Fish and Game Search and Rescue met us and helped the rest of the way out. By the time we reached the parking lot, two more Search and Rescue members had arrived.

Diane and Jayne got Pat into the rear seat of their SUV and drove to the local hospital. The Emergency Room team x-rayed Pat's leg and strengthened the splint. Surgery was arranged for the next morning at Pat's local hospital.

It turns out Pat had shattered her tibia, fibula and medial maleolar(?) totally. After surgery she had an 8-inch plate with 9 screws in one side of her ankle and 3 screws in the other. Not a fun experience. However, the doctor says Pat should be climbing and snowshoeing by March.

Pat says the EMT at Conway hospital was really impressed with the rescue. He couldn't believe six hikers got her off with a handmade litter and without Search and Rescue help (except for Brian at the end). He said that he has been an EMT for 26 years and only about every ten years does he see a rescue such as ours be successful.

The rescue could easily have gotten into trouble. Our success was enabled by positive circumstances:
- There were two capable nurses at the scene.
- Six carriers showed up at the right time.
- Pat was light relative to her carriers.
- The accident occurred below the more difficult trail section.
- Weather was warm and dry, with adequate daylight remaining.

We carriers had some sore muscles the next day -- hands, arms and shoulders -- not what you would ordinarily expect from a hike. But, being able to help another hiker was well worth it. It was also a reminder of the risks involved in wilderness travel and the need for emergency preparedness.