JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) was called out to assist a hunter with a medical issue in the North Fork of Horse Creek on the evening of Friday, Sept. 26, around 7:30 p.m.
The 66-year-old man, who was experiencing severe distress, was part of a group of elk hunters with a guide. After dusk, the group was hiking down a steep trail back to camp in a remote area southeast of the Cache Creek drainage, when “the man could go no further,” according to a Facebook post by TCSAR.
Two TCSAR ground teams responded, each taking side-by-side vehicles up the Cache Creek trail. The patient was about a mile past the divide between Cache Creek and Horse Creek.
“When the vehicles could go no further, two volunteers continued on bikes,” the post reads. “When the bikes could go no further, they continued on foot until they reached the patient.”
The second ground team arrived on foot carrying the wheeled litter, and the volunteers treated the patient. The team considered going down into Horse Creek, but ultimately decided to go up toward Cache Creek and a potential landing site for a helicopter. The team’s request for an air ambulance was called off due to darkness and challenging terrain.
The team prepared the patient for transport in the wheeled litter and took him over the divide and into Cache Creek. The man was placed in one of the side-by-sides and driven to the trailhead to a waiting ambulance from Jackson Hole Fire/EMS.
The teams returned to the TCSAR base at 2:30 a.m.
