The crew of Sheriff's helicopter 40 King 1 rescued an injured hiker who was equipped with a personal locator beacon
DATE/TIME: Saturday, February 1, 2020, 10:50 a.m.
INCIDENT: Search and Rescue
LOCATION: Dry Lake, Mount San Gorgonio
VICTIM(S): Jack Sayers, 40 years old, a resident of Los Angeles
SUMMARY: On Saturday, Jack SAYERS was hiking in the area of San Gorgonio Mountain which was covered in ice and snow. He was well equipped with crampons and an ice axe to traverse the steep terrain. During his hike, SAYERS slipped and started to slide down the ice, but was able to arrest himself with his ice axe. In the process SAYERS injured himself and was unable to safely walk his way out of the remote area. SAYERS activated a personal locator beacon which routed his GPS coordinates to Sheriff’s dispatch.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s patrol helicopter 40 King 1, crewed by Deputy Paul Kowalski and Deputy Brad Heard, responded to the area where SAYERS had set his beacon off. After a brief search of the reported location SAYERS was not found. The flight crew located foot tracks in the snow leading down to Dry Lake. The flight crew followed the tracks and located SAYERS walking across Dry Lake which was completely covered in snow at the 9,200 foot level. SAYERS appeared to be in distress and in need of assistance.
Kowalski landed the helicopter and manuevered it in such a way to prevent the weight of the aircraft from sinking deep into the snow. Heard exited the helicopter and walked across the snow to contact SAYERS. SAYERS confirmed he was injured and was unable to continue hiking. Heard safely assisted SAYERS aboard the helicopter, and he was flown to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center for non-life threating injuries.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department commends Jack SAYERS for his preparedness while hiking in such an unforgiving environment such as Mt. San Gorgonio during winter months. Due to Sayers carrying and activating his personal locator beacon (PLB), he was quickly located and rescued from an area where there is no cell phone reception. Hikers are encouraged to remain at their location of activation and not wander away in order to expedite rescue efforts.
Refer: Deputy P. Kowalski
Station: Emergency Operations Division, Aviation Unit
Phone No. 909 252-4100
Case No. 042000057
JOHN McMAHON, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department
Address/Location
SBSD - Headquarters
655 E 3rd St
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 909-387-3700