At 9:31 pm on Wednesday, August 28, the Team received a report of a hiker who had fallen off the side of the stairs that approach Rainbow Falls. It was reported that the hiker had been seated, and when he attempted to stand, he was dizzy, lost his balance, and fell backward over the edge. A witness estimated his fall to be 30-40 feet, on mostly vertical terrain. The extent of injuries was unknown.

Packaging the subject for transport. Image by J. Bush

Field teams made the short hike to the subject’s location, stabilized him, packaged him in a full-body vacuum splint, and them transported him in a wheeled litter. Upon arrival at the trailhead, subject care was transferred to Mono County Medics, who then transported the subject to Mammoth Hospital. It was learned later in the day of August 29 that the hiker had escaped with very minor injuries, and was released from Mammoth Hospital.

Moving the subject from the SAR litter to the medic’s gurney. Image by J. Bush

IC: None. Ops Leader: Thompson/Bush. Reponders: Buchanan, Carlson, Evans, Kaufman, Patterson, Pavlovsky, Quiring, Senior, Torrence.