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A hiker who fell from a mountain in North Carolina received a life-saving blood transfusion in the woods, in a first for the area. Flight nurses had to trek fresh blood into the woods to save the 18-year-old hiker, according to Burke County Search and Rescue.
Rescue workers say the teen fell about 45 feet from the top of Hawksbill Mountain and after they received reports of her fall around 7p.m., EMS made contact with the hiker and determined that because of the nature of the injuries, she would need whole blood before being moved. The hiker was stabilized, but high winds on the top of the mountain made a helicopter rescue too dangerous, so it was decided she would have to be carried off the mountain.
Crews spent hours using ropes to get the girl back up the mountain, then flight nurses hiked fresh whole blood into the woods, where they met rescue crews on the trail and did a successful blood transfusion, according to Burke County Search and Rescue. The hiker and rescue crews made it safely out of the woods around 1a.m. and the hiker was then taken to a nearby trauma center. Burke Rescue said they believe this was the first whole blood delivery in the Linville Gorge of the Pisgah National Forest.
Source: WSOC TV