CEDAR CITY — A badly injured hiker was rescued from the Kanarraville Falls trail on Sunday afternoon.
Iron County Sheriff’s deputy Michael Hillegar said Iron County Search and Rescue team members were dispatched to the scene shortly after 3 p.m.
Hillegar said the man, who had apparently been hiking alone, was found face down in the creek by other hikers, who called 911.
“He was unresponsive. They started doing chest compressions on him,” Hillegar told Cedar City News, adding that there happened to be nurse practitioners among the group of hikers.
Hillegar said the first official responders to reach the injured man included an emergency room doctor who is part of Iron County’s SAR team, along with a couple of paramedics and a Life Flight nurse.
“They made the first official contact with the patient and I’m not sure of his status at that time,” Hillegar said, adding that he and a couple other team members had driven up from St. George to join the rescue in progress. Emergency medical personnel had already begun treating the man by the time Hillegar made it to the scene, which he estimated to be a little more than a mile from the trailhead parking lot.
“They’d started pushing IVs and giving pain meds as soon as I arrived,” Hillegar said.
Rescuers then secured the man in a Stokes basket and transported him back down the trail to a staging area where an Intermountain Life Flight helicopter was waiting. He was then flown to St. George Regional Medical Center, Hillegar said.
The hiker, who Hillegar said was in his 60s, is believed to have fallen and hit his head. There have not been any updates as of Monday afternoon regarding his condition.
This report is based on information provided by law enforcement or first responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.