Sonoma Valley hikers need helicopter rescue for trail injuries

Twice in the last week, hikers have received a spectacular lift down the hill from a CHP helicopter, thanks to Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue respondents.

“They were leg injuries in real remote locations of both parks, which caused us to call for a rescue helicopter,” said Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis of SVFRA, who led both operations. Neither injury was considered serious, but Andreis suggested the otherwise rare operations were caused by the sudden return to parks following the shelter-in-place restrictions. “We’ve had a real uptick for responses in the parks,” he said.

In the first case, at about 1 p.m. on June 6, rescue crews were directed to an injured woman who required medical attention in Jack London State Historic Park. The hiker was in a fairly remote location and it took the agency’s side-by-side Utility Task Vehicle to reach her.

When it became clear a UTV rescue was not practical, the crew called in CHP H32, one of two rescue helicopters from the CHP Golden Gate Division stationed in Vallejo, which is sometimes closer to east Sonoma County calls than the County Sheriff’s Henry-1. “Helo 32 performed a long-line shuttle to an awaiting SVFRA Medic Unit who took the patient safely to the hospital,” reported Sarah Gibson of the SVFRA on Facebook.

“Parents are superheroes!” she wrote on Facebook four days later, when reporting a June 9 rescue from Sonoma Overlook Trail. “And sometimes superheroes need a little lift.”

That incident involved a dad who injured his leg while out for a late afternoon hike with his young daughter on the close-to-town trail just above Mountain Cemetery. Rescuers including Gibson showed up and comforted the daughter as the same Napa CHP H32 hovered overhead to lift Dad to safety, then walked the girl down back to the trailhead.

There, the girl’s mother and other family members welcomed her, while a waiting ambulance rushed her dad to Sonoma Valley Hospital for medical attention.

“Treating family and friends at the scene of a call with the same quality of care as the injured or sick patient is an SVFRA promise our crews uphold daily,” wrote Gibson on Facebook. “With the help of partner agencies such as CHP Napa H32 we ensure our community is #sonomastrong.”

Twice in the last week, hikers have received a spectacular lift down the hill from a CHP helicopter, thanks to Sonoma Valley Fire & Rescue respondents.

“They were leg injuries in real remote locations of both parks, which caused us to call for a rescue helicopter,” said Battalion Chief Spencer Andreis of SVFRA, who led both operations. Neither injury was considered serious, but Andreis suggested the otherwise rare operations were caused by the sudden return to parks following the shelter-in-place restrictions. “We’ve had a real uptick for responses in the parks,” he said.

In the first case, at about 1 p.m. on June 6, rescue crews were directed to an injured woman who required medical attention in Jack London State Historic Park. The hiker was in a fairly remote location and it took the agency’s side-by-side Utility Task Vehicle to reach her.

When it became clear a UTV rescue was not practical, the crew called in CHP H32, one of two rescue helicopters from the CHP Golden Gate Division stationed in Vallejo, which is sometimes closer to east Sonoma County calls than the County Sheriff’s Henry-1. “Helo 32 performed a long-line shuttle to an awaiting SVFRA Medic Unit who took the patient safely to the hospital,” reported Sarah Gibson of the SVFRA on Facebook.

“Parents are superheroes!” she wrote on Facebook four days later, when reporting a June 9 rescue from Sonoma Overlook Trail. “And sometimes superheroes need a little lift.”

That incident involved a dad who injured his leg while out for a late afternoon hike with his young daughter on the close-to-town trail just above Mountain Cemetery. Rescuers including Gibson showed up and comforted the daughter as the same Napa CHP H32 hovered overhead to lift Dad to safety, then walked the girl down back to the trailhead.

There, the girl’s mother and other family members welcomed her, while a waiting ambulance rushed her dad to Sonoma Valley Hospital for medical attention.

“Treating family and friends at the scene of a call with the same quality of care as the injured or sick patient is an SVFRA promise our crews uphold daily,” wrote Gibson on Facebook. “With the help of partner agencies such as CHP Napa H32 we ensure our community is #sonomastrong.”