Injured hiker rescued from hill off Dempster Highway
Several emergency services agencies, as well as a private helicopter, banded together Aug. 22 to rescue an injured hiker stranded on a hill along the Dempster Highway.
Dawson RCMP were called to assist with the rescue on Sapper Hill, at kilometre 194 of the Dempster Highway near the Engineer Creek campground, around 5:51 p.m. that day, Yukon RCMP said in a press release Aug. 25.
The area where the hiker was stranded “was remote and steep,” the press release says, and required a “complicated and joint operation” between police, Emergency Medical Services, Yukon Search and Rescue and the services of a Fireweed Helicopter.
A Dawson RCMP officer coordinated the rescue, and the helicopter transported officers, a physician and members of the search-and-rescue team to an area of Sapper Hill, where they then hiked an hour to reach the woman.
They helped her back down to the highway, the press release says, and police vehicles were used to transport everyone back to Dawson City as ambulance access was “hampered by the location.”
The woman was taken to hospital for treatment of her injuries.
Contact Jackie Hong at jackie.hong@yukon-news.com