At approximately noon on Monday the Maryland State Police Aviation Command was requested to assist St. Mary’s County fire personnel with the extrication of an injured hiker, who was located three miles into St. Mary’s River State Park in Leonardtown, Maryland.
Trooper-7, based out of St. Mary’s Regional Airport, responded to the scene and maneuvered the AW-139 helicopter into a 120-foot hover. Once in place, a state trooper/flight paramedic was deployed from the helicopter to assess and prepare the patient to be hoisted into the helicopter.
Under direction and coordination between the flight paramedic and ground personnel, the hiker was placed into a patient extrication platform and successfully hoisted into the helicopter. Once the patient was brought into the helicopter, the flight crew transitioned into a medevac role and transported the hiker to the University of Maryland Capital Regional Medical Center in Largo, Maryland, for treatment of their injuries.
The Maryland State Police Aviation Command has served the Maryland since 1970 and operates a fleet of 10 AW-139 helicopters from seven bases throughout the state. Each aircraft provides round-the-clock coverage to Maryland residents and visitors. The agency’s missions include medevac, law enforcement, search and rescue, homeland security and disaster assessment. The success of the missions relies heavily on the cooperative efforts of local fire, rescue, EMS, law enforcement agencies and our partners at the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Park Police.
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CONTACT: First Sergeant James Lyles, Assistant Commander Central Region Flight Operations, (410) 238-5800