A Classic Air Medical evacuated a 64-year-old hiker Thursday who fell in Chicago Basin, in the Weminuche Wilderness, said La Plata County spokesman Ted Holteen.
La Plata County Search and Rescue was on standby but did not respond to the incident.
Dispatch was able to coordinate the rescue through an SOS message from good Samaritans assisting.
Preliminary reports indicate the man fell and may have suffered a head injury, although the full extent of his injuries was not known Friday afternoon.
Using a Garmin InReach device, which enables parties without cell reception to communicate via satellite with emergency responders, another party of hikers was able to exchange messages with SAR.
According to flight records, a helicopter from San Juan Regional Medical Center in Cortez responded to the area and was flying overhead around 4:30 p.m. SAR team members saw the aircraft headed to Mercy Hospital just before 6 p.m.
If air extraction had failed, the patient would have had to walk or be transported 6 miles to the nearest stop on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
