Tough rescue for emergency crews in woods west of London
Emergency responders faced a challenging rescue on Tuesday after a hiker was injured in a heavily wooded area west of London.
Crews were called after a woman hiking with a friend fell and injured her leg on a trail in Komoka Provincial Park – about a 30 minute walk from the nearest road access.
The first big challenge was determining where on the park’s multiple trails the woman was located.
Paramedics were able to locate and stabilize the woman and then called in firefighters, who brought in an all-terrain stretcher known as a ‘Stokes basket’ to help get her safely out of the woods.
Paul Van Dyk, Middlesex-London EMS superintendent, is reminding hikers to always know where they are, and to carry a cell phone.
“It’s very important to know your location and determine your egress routes so emergency personnel can reach you in a timely fashion. Extrication lasted over an hour. The fact that it was rural terrain with many challenges such as hills and heavy foliage made the extrication quite difficult.”
The woman suffered non-life threatening injuries in the incident.
