An individual experiencing a medical event at Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson required a coordinated effort by local responders to get to safety on Saturday, Feb. 28.
According to Jefferson Fire Chief Darren Walker, an individual became distressed while using the trail system at HVNC, prompting the person to call 911 for help. The Lincoln County Communications Center paged Jefferson Fire and Rescue to the scene at 9:24 a.m.
While the nature of the call itself was relatively routine, the fact this individual was located roughly a mile into the woods was a significant complicating factor, Walker said. It took responders more than half an hour to reach the patient, traveling on foot and hauling a stoke basket loaded with equipment with them, Walker said.
The Alna Volunteer Fire Department provided mutual aid support in the form of the personnel and the department’s utility terrain vehicle, which transported responders and equipment to the scene and transported the patient to a waiting ambulance in the HVNC parking lot.
Given the nature of the call, the time it took responders to get to the individual, and knowing time was of the essence, Walker said he made the decision to contact LifeFlight of Maine.
Responders set up a landing zone at N.C. Hunt’s Jefferson location and the LifeFlight and Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service crews arrived with minutes of each other, Walker said. The patient was likely in Portland in less than a half hour, he said.
Walker said he did not know the patient’s condition as of press time.
