Man Rescued from Forest Service Road

Saturday, October 04, 2008 03:59 PM

Prince George, B.C. - Mounties had to use the services of the RCMP helicopter based out of Kamloops to rescue a man that had hit a cement embutment on the Vama Vama Forest Service Road, approximately 25 kilometers east of Prince George, near Highway 16.

Constable Gary Godwin says they received the phone call from the BC Ambulance Service at 2:14 Saturday afternoon. “He's a 50-year-old male with head injuries—and they are serious injuries,” said Godwin. “He was on a quad and we don't know at this point exactly how he hit the embutment.”

Godwin says the Ambulance Service quickly responded, but wasn't able to get to the scene; he says that's when they called for the helicopter. "The Ambulance responding to the incident became stuck in the mud, and that's when we received the phone call for help."

“At this point, we don't know where he's from—we feel he is in a hunting party, but nobody has showed up,” said Godwin.

The man was taken to Prince George Regional Hospital.

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Posted on Saturday, October 04, 2008 03:59 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Petty fan on October 4 2008 4:45 PM

No helicopter in PG??

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on October 4 2008 5:40 PM

Exactly what I was thinking. Kamloops to Vama is a long flight, maybe the RCMP pilot was bored and glad to have an excuse to fly.

I wonder if Vama is 25KM by road or direct as the crow flys? Good thing the guy didn't die waiting.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on October 4 2008 5:47 PM

Google Earth

385 km Kamloops to Vama
25 km Prince George to Vama

WTF? Must be more to the story, because this one doesn't add up. Was it a drug bust, biker gang, .. what?

Posted by: lunarguy on October 4 2008 7:09 PM

No it just goes to show how poor our emergency response is in the bush. In Alberta they have a program called STARS. They know how to treat an injured person. No wonder we have so many deaths in the forestry industry when the time to get people to the hospital is so great.

Posted by: hartbooks on October 4 2008 7:45 PM

STARS responds up in the Peace River area of BC too.

Posted by: lunarguy on October 4 2008 7:47 PM

Yes they do. Now to convince them to come to our neck of the woods.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on October 4 2008 7:48 PM

STARS uses the closest commercial helicopter that is registered with STARS. It is fast!

BC doesn't have the same system. So they call the RCMP. Helps justify the cost of keeping a helicopter for the RCMP.

Posted by: lunarguy on October 4 2008 9:26 PM

Really. All of the patient transfers I have been involved with the Helicopter was all decked out in red with STAR's logo's on them. They also had a lot of medical equipment what looked to be permanently fastened on. But who cares even if it is coordinates with a local commercial one, at least they get there faster than what this RCMP one does.

Posted by: whitetrash on October 4 2008 11:16 PM

Had an incident in the mountains outside of Mcbride once in the winter time,needed a heli flight out, severe broken femur.. and thanks to my friends it was gr8 to here the sounds of the rotors whipping in the wind a couple of hours later in the poor weather conditions..wasn't SARS but all the same...Thanks

Posted by: metalman on October 6 2008 7:45 AM

With sympathy for the guy who rode unwisely
and I sincerely hope he pulls through without any problems;
what in hell is an "embutment"? Have the structural features we once knew as "abutments" been renamed to make ingrish easier for todayz' high skool gradgeates? NOTE to the helicopter services based in Prince George and the one from Vanderhoof, if you are still there: PLEASE register with the local police, if they knew that there were choppers and pilots right here in little old PG, they would have called you! You could have logged some flight overtime, but you missed out, cuz you did'nt let the cops know you were there.
metalman.

Posted by: lostfaith on October 6 2008 8:36 AM

Was he riding unwisely?

Posted by: metalman on October 6 2008 9:54 AM

Unwisely; A diplomatic description of my assumption that the fellow was:
-not wearing a helmet perhaps?
-or helmet not strapped on properly?
-going too fast for the conditions?
-under the influence?
My assumptions are thus because of the description of the incident (hitting an abutment) and the apparent severity of his head injury. Observations, not judgement.
metalman.