DAMES QUARTER, Md. - Maryland State Police say one of their helicopters was used to rescue a stranded boater experiencing a medical emergency on April 17 in Somerset County.
MSP say just after 1:30 p.m. on April 17, rescue personnel from Somerset County were dispatched to a remote area in Dames Quarter Lake to find a boater who grounded his boat and began to experience a medical emergency. They say the victim's remote location, extended extrication time, and the nature of the medical emergency, MSP Aviation Command was requested by the U.S. Coast Guard for an aerial hoist rescue.
A search and rescue effort was launched in the area east of Deal Island. MSP say a Maryland Natural Resources Police officer then located the boater and confirmed the need for a hoist extrication due to shallow water and the inability for ground or water rescue. A trooper/paramedic was then lowered from a helicopter onto a patch of solid ground in the marsh that was otherwise inaccessible. There the victim was medically assessed and prepared for aerial extraction.
MSP's Trooper 4 helicopter hovered over the marsh at nearly 70 feet and was able to successfully hoist the victim out of the marsh. Video of the rescue can be seen here. Once safely inside the helicopter, the victim was medically evacuated to a local hospital.
