Emergency crews get workout to reach hiker in woods

Emergency responders had to hack their way through trees and brush last week to rescue a man complaining of chest pain as he was hiking in the woods south of Troy.

Emergency crews used saws to cut through about three-fourths of a mile of vegetation through an abandoned road off of Iron Creek Road and then up a steep mountainside.

“It’s as steep as any mountain around here, probably a 30-to-45-degree slope,” said Troy Volunteer Ambulance paramedic Shawn Thrasher. “I was huffing and puffing on the way up.”

The man and a juvenile relative were far off any trails. Rescuers depended on two-way radio communication and the man shooting rounds in the air to locate them, Thrasher said.

When an ALERT helicopter arrived, the pilot was able to provide rescuers with the man’s location so they could take a direct route to him.

“When ALERT gave us coordinates, we were 300 yards from him, but couldn’t see because of the thick brush,” Thrasher said.

The helicopter did not risk landing on the mountain because of weather conditions, so the patient had to be carried to a nearby field in order to be airlifted to a hospital.

Rescuers were paged at about 1 p.m., and paramedics reached the man at about 3:30, Thrasher said. Crews loaded him onto the helicopter at about 8 p.m.

David Thompson Search and Rescue, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also aided in the rescue.