Airmen halt nighttime training to aid victims

  • Published
  • By Capt. Cathleen Snow
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) --  Combat-search-and-rescue Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing here halted their nighttime training operations at a remote drop zone in Central Florida to transport accident victims to the hospital.

Four people were injured, one seriously, when their airboat flipped on the St. John's River, approximately 30 miles north of where the Airmen were rehearsing for war.

With the help of the 920th local Airmen piloting an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, the Brevard County Sheriff's department launched a rescue mission dispatching airboats from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Camp Holley Fish Camp, to assist in taking paramedics to the secluded accident site.

The Reserve Airmen landed the Pave Hawk on a spit of land in the middle of a swamp, according to the aircrew.

After paramedics finished treating the patients at the crash site, Rescue Wing Airmen transported three of the four patients to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, including the most seriously injured victim. The fourth patient was taken by airboat then driven to Holmes for evaluation.

Maj. Rod Stout, Pave Hawk pilot assigned to the 920th's on-call desk when the call came in at 7:50 p.m. "We can have these guys to the hospital in five minutes," said Stout when briefed on the situation.

While the flight to the hospital itself lasted a few minutes, from the time the Airmen got the call, to the time they were unloading the patients off the helicopter pad at the hospital, was one hour.

"It was nice to be able to help," said Col. Jeffrey Macrander, 920th Rescue Wing commander, who piloted the Pave Hawk.

Earlier today, the wing welcomed home 70 Rescue Airmen from Afghanistan. Those Airmen are credited with 490 combat rescues.