Rescue teams carried out a difficult recovery of a woman who fell some 40-50 feet on Walden's Ridge Saturday evening.
The call for help at 6 p.m. came from the woman's companion regarding the fall from the side of a bluff.
Walden’s Ridge Emergency Services responded to the scene.
The uninjured climber had Walden’s Ridge Emergency Service personnel follow him to his injured companion. The patient’s visual injuries appeared to be facial injuries only. She was conscious and alert.
At that time, Walden’s Ridge dispatched Chattanooga-Hamilton County Cliff Cave & Rescue and Marion County Rescue to respond for mutual aid.
Assistant Chief Charles Hickman, Walden’s Ridge Emergency Services, said, “ Dr. Wharton, Medical Director for the Cliff-Cave Rescue, arrived on the scene and administered warm IV fluids to the patient while the rescue squads proceeded to secure her in a “Stokes Basket” for transport”.
Hickman said the terrain is very rough and very steep. These rescuers used three drops of rope. Each drop of rope contains 300 feet. The rope is used as support to the rescuers, keeps the patient secure and slows the speed of the basket down the mountain. Rescuers had the female climber out of the woods in 45 minutes.
Marion County EMS transported her to the landing zone where Lifeforce was standing by to transport her to Erlanger Medical Center. Other injuries are not known at this time.
According to a Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescuer, hypothermia was not an issue with this patient. She was well-dressed for the weather and well-equipped for the climbing incident.
The cause of the accident is not known at this time.
Walden’s Ridge Emergency Services was assisted by Chattanooga-Hamilton County Rescue & Cliff-Cave Team, Marion County EMS, Marion County Emergency Management, Marion County Rescue, Mullins Cove Fire Department and Lifeforce.