Search and Rescue Team Operation: Aid to injured backcountry pack riders

To:      All Media Partners

From:  Jennifer M. Hansen, Public Information Officer

Date:   July 22, 2014

RE:      Search and Rescue Team Operation: Aid to injured backcountry pack riders

On the afternoon of Friday, July 18, 2014, at approximately 3:00pm, Mono County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call regarding two injured backcountry pack trip participants.

A multi-day guided pack trip was returning from their trip, when approximately 1.5 miles from the Agnew Meadows pack stations, two mules became spooked and the riders were thrown from the mules. The Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue (SAR) team responded to aid the two injured riders. One rider suffered a bruised leg. The other rider sustained serious injuries. Eight SAR members hiked in and stabilized the seriously injured rider for evacuation to the trailhead via a wheeled litter. Mono County Paramedics met with SAR team members and the victim and transported them by ambulance to Mammoth Hospital for treatment.