In a demonstration of swift response and coordinated rescue efforts, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Search and Rescue team was dispatched on Wednesday to Pine Creek following an accident involving a climbing party. As per an Instagram post by the LVMPD, a climber fell from the "Cookie Monster" climb, sustaining serious injuries after a 20-30 foot fall.
The climber, serving as the group's lead, hit a small ledge, which resulted in head, back, and lower leg injuries. The experienced climbers managed to stabilize the injured party at the base of the route and promptly contacted emergency services. The importance of experience and preparedness in these remote natural environments cannot be overstated, as it likely prevented a more complicated rescue scenario.
Support arrived in the form of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rangers and Fire Department (FD) personnel who hiked to the site for initial contact. In what unfolded like a clockwork of rescue expertise, AIR1, the aerial unit, proceeded to insert a SAR officer into the scene. A Mountain Rescue volunteer was also hoisted down to aid in the patient's evacuation to a more accessible location for further extraction.
LVMPD explained the rescue by saying the patient was placed in a litter and carried with help from climbing companions to a spot for airlift. AIR1 then performed a hoist, ensuring the patient’s safe transfer to a helicopter. First, the mountain rescue volunteer was extracted, followed by the injured climber, who was taken to a trauma center.
