FLINTSTONE — A hunter preparing for the upcoming season fell from a tree stand and had to be hoisted out of Green Ridge State Forest by a Maryland State Police medevac on Saturday, according to emergency services officials.
“The 33-year-old hunter was attempting to place a tree stand in a tree when a strap broke off and he fell approximately 15 feet,” Allegany County Department of Emergency Services EMS Chief Michael Salvadge said.
The hunter was several hundred yards off Black Sulphur Road and crews accessed him on foot over several steep terrains, according to Salvadge.
“He could have been carried out on foot, but that likely would have taken close to an hour,” Salvadge said. “We did have ATVs on the scene, but even then, we had access problems.”
With those challenges, it was determined that utilizing Cumberland-based medevac Trooper 5’s ability to hoist a patient from the ground was the easiest and safest for the victim and emergency personnel.
“The helicopter did a fly over and landed away from the scene to reconfigure for the hoist,” Salvadge said.
About 25 yards from the patient’s location, fire department personnel cut several trees to make a greater opening in the forest canopy to allow for the flight paramedic and basket to be lowered, Salvadge added.
“The patient was stable and suffered back and lower extremity trauma,” Salvadge said.
He was transported to UPMC Western Maryland in stable condition, according to Salvadge.
Units from Flintstone, Bedford Road, Mount Savage, Corriganville, Goodwill, Cumberland, Allegany County Department of Emergency Services, County Special Operations and Maryland Natural Resource Police responded to the incident just before 12 p.m. at 10406 Black Sulphur Road, near the intersection of Sugar Bottom Road and Old Williams Road.
Approximately 20 emergency service personnel operated on the scene for over an hour, according to emergency services officials.