North Shore Rescue completes complex rescue of critically injured mountain biker
Biker is believed to have been on unsanctioned trail
North Shore Rescue (NSR) completed a complicated rescue on Tuesday night after a mountain biker was gravely injured from a fall.
NSR team leader Mike Danks said his team received the call just after 6:30 p.m., and immediately contacted North Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, because the biker reported that he could not feel anything below his chest.
"They responded as well as us, it was kind of an all hands on deck situation just because we knew just how critical this patient possibly was," he said.
An emergency room physician and an anesthesiologist arrived on the scene via helicopter, and three NSR members evacuated the patient using a long line.
Injured on trail
"They just got him out before darkness, which is basically when we'd have to shut down flight operations," said Danks.
The injured biker is a man in his 30s, and that is believed to have been biking on an unsanctioned trail.
Danks said rescues can become more difficult in the fall, as the days grow shorter.
"Evacuating a patient from those remote areas is very challenging, especially when you throw in someone that's critically injured and we have a diminishing light window," he said.