Alaska Army Crew Launches Evacuation Mission For Civilian Patient

A U.S. Army aeromedical unit performed a remote evacuation for a civilian who had fallen from the roof of a cabin along the Yukon River. Members of the evacuation team known as Arctic Dustoff received the mission request about 6:05 local time on July 5. They took off from Ladd Field at Fort Wainwright about 7:30 p.m.

Nearing the location of the accident after a flight that included some strong turbulence, the crew noticed that the patient’s friends had prepared a landing site for the helicopter. But the medical crew required transportation to the site of the accident by boat, where they assessed and treated the patient. They then took the boat back to the helicopter.

The turbulence had subsided for the return trip to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, which had to circumvent a temporary flight restriction due to wildfires along the route of flight. The patient was turned over to hospital staff about 10:35 p.m.

Operation Dustoff operations officer Capt. Laura Penley, said, “I am proud of the crew for adapting to the changes of the mission. No one on the crew was expecting to land on the riverbank and take a boat upstream to a remote cabin to treat the patient. The flight paramedics and crew handing the situation with ease and professionalism.”