Calif. CHP Rescues Injured Man from Cliff Side

Jan. 05--A California Highway Patrol helicopter crew rescued an injured man from who had fallen into a cliff-side tree in Yolo County on Sunday.

"The danger was that the tree would give away and he would fall to his death," said CHP officer and paramedic Ben Schmidt.

The daring rescue also entailed the copter crew airlifting the man's 11-year-old son to safety.

A 911 call from the son at 3:10 p.m. alerted authorities that the father was stuck in a tree in the Putah Creek State Wildlife Area. While the coordinates derived from the cell phone call failed to lead the helicopter crew to the pair, a resourceful CHP dispatcher using the family name found a Facebook post where the father identified the trail they would be hiking on Sunday.

A CHP helicopter crew eventually found the son on the cliff overlooking his father's precarious position. Meanwhile, another CHP helicopter piloted by CHP officer-pilot Pete Gavitte arrived to start the rescue.

While Gavitte kept the helicopter hovering over the boy, Officer Craig Koyl lowered officer-paramedic Schmidt to pick up the youngster.

Once the boy was hoisted and flown to a nearby landing site, the crew went back for the father. Koyl once again lowered Schmidt, this time into the tree on the cliff side. Schmidt then bandaged and prepared the father for a hoist in a rescue litter.

Schmidt and two firefighter rescuers from Vacaville Fire Protection District who had climbed the cliff side helped secure the patient to the back board. The helicopter then lifted the father and Schmidt to safety.

CHP officer Schmidt said there was concern that the tree might not hold rescuers and the father.

"Imagine a cliff with a tree on it," said Schmidt. "The tree was holding us there. He fell through the tree and the bigger branches caught him. We were working there on the cliff, standing on these branches. It was a kind of precarious situation. That is what made it kind of a challenge to get him packaged in the litter."

The father was eventually transported to a nearby hospital by another CHP helicopter. Schmidt said the father had head injuries.

The crew that lifted the pair to safety is part of the Golden Gate Division Air Operations unit, based at Napa County Airport. The unit operates two airplanes and two helicopters.

The helicopter is equipped with a rescue hoist that has 165 feet of rescue cable to lift rescuers or patients that can weigh up to 450 pounds into the aircraft.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

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