ST. GEORGE — It was the first day of the Utah Department of Public Safety’s new Southern Utah helicopter rescue team, and it only took a few hours for it to prove its worth.
They came to assist Friday in the rescue of a woman who was injured while either jumping or falling off a waterfall in a remote, rugged area above Toquerville. A woman shattered her left knee and right ankle after a rough landing in the rocks below Toquerville Falls, and it took a joint effort of Washington County Search and Rescue with the Hurricane Valley Fire District to reach the injured party.
But to get her out, it took an additional team that until Friday didn’t exist in Southern Utah.
Until now, the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Aero Bureau would aid in rescues locally by having to fly its helicopter an hour-and-a-half from Salt Lake City. But on Friday, a second team and helicopter went into operation at St. George Airport.
When it became too difficult and painful to the victim to get her out on the ground, Sgt. Darrell Cashin, who oversees Washington County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team, knew who to call.
“Knowing that the DPS helicopter was here and it was their first day, I figured this would be a good opportunity. They were five hours into it and we said, ‘We need you,’” Cashin said.
Toquerville Falls is considered a hidden treasure of a hike with water from LaVerkin Creek cascading down stepped cliffs,
The area is only reachable by a rough, unpaved road and a short hike. It’s a place without a cell phone signal located 11 miles from the Toquerville Boulevard-Spring Drive turnoff and civilization.
Because of that, a person accompanying the injured woman had to hike at least a mile before getting a signal to call for help, Cashin said.
It’s unclear if the woman had lost her footing on the falls and fell or deliberately jumped, Cashin said. But the result was painful.
The rescuers quickly learned that the initial attempt to drive the injured woman from the scene wasn’t going to work.
“We tried to put her in a vehicle and the pain was too excruciating,” Cashin said, necessitating the need for a short airlift. “The injuries were not life-threatening. It was more of getting her to an ambulance with less discomfort to her.”
After taking off from its new base of St. George Airport, the helicopter found a landing zone near the falls and the woman was brought aboard. She was then flown within minutes to a Toquerville church parking lot where a waiting ambulance took her to St. George Regional Hospital.
Cashin said the Aero Bureau’s new Southern Utah team passed their first test with flying colors.
“We have called on them a lot in the last month but (they) had to fly out of Salt Lake,” Cashin said. “Having them this close with this quick response is really going to enhance our ability.”
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