Just after a quiet Easter long weekend, local volunteers sprang into action to help an injured hiker near the Skookumchuck Narrows.
On Tuesday, April 11, Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue (SAR) got the call around 2:30 p.m., SAR manager Dave Steers told Coast Reporter. A woman slipped at the narrows viewpoint and, though she did not fall into the water, she injured her ankle.
Being located closest to the scene, the Egmont & District Volunteer Fire Department was the first to respond.
Elisha Moussadji, the deputy chief with the Egmont & District Volunteer Fire Department, was the fire command on the scene for the rescue (she also is a member of Sunshine Coast SAR and works for BC Ambulance). She said three department members used quads to reach the patient.
The Egmont fire department has its own quad specifically for the Skookumchuck trail, Moussadji said, and often use it during the summer months. They borrowed a second quad from fire chief Kal Helyar to pull a stretcher.
Moussadji’s husband is the medic who stabilized the patient and bandaged her injury at the scene. The firefighters reported to Sunshine Coast SAR that the hiker’s ankle was visibly deformed and likely broken, Steers said.
BCEHS was called in Madeira but stood down when it became clear the patient needed to be transported by helicopter. Steers and Moussadji said the trail to the Skookumchuck viewpoint is still rough at this time of year, and the hiker was in too much pain to take in the stretcher. SAR members set up a landing zone for a helicopter.
North Shore Rescue was called in to perform a longline extraction with a helicopter. The helicopter transported the woman to the Sechelt airport. From there, she was taken to Sechelt Hospital. By the time the volunteers were done, it was 7:30 p.m.
Moussadji said the joint rescue between the four organizations was seamless. “It’s wonderful working with the different teams on the Coast,” she said.
The season so far has been “relatively quiet — touch wood,” Steers said. For those going outside in the coming months, Steers said to pack the 10 essentials and make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you expect to return.
