St. Mary’s Wilderness Area
Augusta County, Virginia
From VSP:
“On 5:23 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 24, 2024), members of the Virginia State Police Med Flight -1 team responded to a call for a fallen hiker in Augusta County
The hiker, a 20-year old female, sustained serious back injuries after jumping into the Saint Mary’s River from a cliff along the Saint Mary’s Falls Trail.
For this rescue mission, the Med-Flight 1 crew consisted of a Virginia State Police Trooper-Pilot and four Chesterfield County Fire and EMS flight paramedics. Once on scene, the ground crew directed the helicopter into position over the scene and Med-Flight lowered a rescuer from the aircraft to the ground. Augusta Fire-Rescue personnel on scene assisted in securing the injured hiker for a hoisting operation back to the aircraft some 175’ above.
This call was part of a busy afternoon for Med-Flight-1, as just proceeding this rescue, at 3:55 p.m., the team responded to a farm machinery entrapment in Amelia County. Med-Flight-1 also responded to an ATV incident involving a child in south Chesterfield that came in at 5:23 p.m., approximately the same time as the Augusta County call. Both the Amelia patient and the Chesterfield patient were individually transported to area hospitals before Med-Flight 1 refueled and flew the 82 nautical miles to the Augusta County rescue.
Med Flight-1 is a joint effort between Virginia State Police pilots and paramedics from the Chesterfield County Fire and EMS Department.
Video from the rescue recorded by Augusta County Fire and EMS can be viewed here: youtu.be/RQ-v_VefD88
Matthew Demlein
Interim Public Relations Director
Virginia State Police”
