Whidbey SAR Rescues Injured Hiker Sunday

A Search and Rescue (SAR) team from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island rescued an injured hiker on Mount Washington in the Cascade Mountains Sunday, June 19, 2022.
 
At approximately 7:50 p.m. Sunday, the SAR crew received a call to rescue a hiker with a leg injury who was accompanied by an uninjured hiker. The SAR crew was able to obtain the cell phone number of one of the hikers and got an updated position from them.
 
The SAR crew flew in above the clouds, which were in a layer from 4,000 to 6,000 feet, and found the hikers after a few minutes of searching at about the 6,000 foot level. The SAR crew then inserted two crewmembers onto a steep slope nearby to prepare the hikers for extraction.
 
The weather continued to improve in the area and by 9:35 p.m. the SAR crew were able to extract the two hikers and two crew members.  The hikers were delivered to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
 
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island SAR has conducted 14 missions this calendar year, which includes eight MEDEVACs, five rescues, and one search.
 
The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation.  Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (based on a Washington State Memorandum of Understanding) for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.