Rangers and flight crews were kept busy on Wednesday, September 24th, as seven people were evacuated from the canyon via helicopter in seven separate incidents:
- A 53-year-old woman on a private river trip with cardiac problems was evacuated from the National Canyon area.
- A 69-year-old woman on a commercial river trip who’d suffered a femur fracture was short-hauled via helicopter from Havasu Creek to a landing zone near the Colorado River for evacuation to the South Rim.
- A 33-year-old man from a private river trip was evacuated from the mouth of Havasu Creek after suffering a serious laceration in the groin area.
- A 43-year-old female backpacker with an acute abdomen (appendicitis) was evacuated from Phantom Ranch.
- A 29-year-old man with cardiac issues was extracted from the North Rim developed area.
- A 52-year-old male backpacker with a leg injury was evacuated from the Nankoweap area.
- A 51-year-old woman on a commercial river trip with a knee injury was evacuated from the Nankoweap area.
In addition to the medevacs, there were several other incidents, including:
- a flipped and stuck raft below Crystal Rapids that necessitated four rangers and two sling loads of equipment flown in to begin a two-day recovery operation;
- a warrant/intoxication arrest in the South Rim developed area;
- an intoxicated and possibly suicidal person approximately a mile and a half down the Bright Angel Trail; and
- a hyponatremic 65-year-old woman treated and transported via NPS ambulance from the South Rim after attempting to hike rim to rim in a day.
Rangers Abby Confer and Peter Maggio served as the incident commanders for the majority of these incidents.
