Injured Backpacker Rescue - September 9-10, 2011

David Gray, the reporting party for this operation, has graciously provided these photos.

David writes: It's not every day when one is awoken from an afternoon nap to find a hiker with a bloody tourniquet made from a bandana tied around his left calf, saying that his leg is broken. He was so ashen and his legs were trembling just trying to keep standing...

It was a pleasure to see you guys in action, and I hope you can appreciate the huge sense of relief that I felt when the first two SAR man walked into the Iceberg Lake meadow at midnight.

View from the meadow below Iceberg Lake

Ops Leader Bill Green writes to David: I am an Operations Leader with Mono County Sheriff Search & Rescue Team, and handled the operation from the initial call until about 2 am. Jeff Holmquist, another Operations Leader with the Team, took over at that point until it's resolution.

I want to thank you for helping in this rescue. A big part of many back country rescues involves persons not associated with the victim prior to the SAR team arriving on scene. Like yourself, these person perform many tasks that help immensely with a successful conclusion, from initial treatment, to reporting the incident to authorities, to helping in the ultimate extraction to medical facilities.

What you did was a great help in resolving this situation to a positive conclusion. Joe was treated at Mammoth Hospital, and fortunately did not have a broken leg. He did have a deep laceration, and the Dr's found a 3/4 inch diameter rock imbedded in his leg that may have given the impression/pain of a broken leg.

Again thank you for your assistance in this successfully concluded operation.