Off-duty Whatcom search and rescue deputy in right place at right time to aid rescue
An off-duty Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue deputy happened to be in the right spot on Mount Baker at the right time Friday afternoon and helped arrange the rescue of an injured skier.
The off-duty deputy, who was not named, was climbing Mount Baker with a group on Friday, May 29, when they observed a 40-year-old man who was skiing at about the 9,000-foot level on Coleman Glacier take a fall, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
The man suffered a dislocated shoulder, making it impossible for him to hike down, Hester reported.
The deputy contacted the on-call Search and Rescue deputy and arranged to have a Navel Air Station Whidbey Island helicopter respond to the area, Hester wrote.
The helicopter, which located the man at approximately 2 p.m. near the base of the Roman Wall, airlifted him to St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham for treatment, according to Navy press release.
Helicopters from the Whidbey Island base have conducted 20 missing throughout the state this year, including three searches, nine rescues and eight medical evacuations, the release stated.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 11:06 AM.
