19 WING COMOX, B.C.— RCAF Search and Rescue crews from 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron provided assistance to Provincial Ground Search and Rescue crews to evacuate a man who had been thrown from his horse in a wooded area 70 miles west of Quesnel, B.C. Friday evening, August 30.

A Cormorant helicopter and Buffalo airplane were launched from their base at 19 Wing Comox after air controllers at Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria received a call for support from BC Ambulance and Provincial Emergency Preparedness to extract the man, who was in a heavily forested area.

The Cormorant arrived on scene at approximately 11:30 p.m., under the artificial daylight of flares dropped by the crew of the Buffalo circling overhead. Two Search and Rescue Technicians were lowered from the helicopter as it hovered approximately 120 feet above the ground.

“We hoisted down from the Cormorant into a small clearing in the trees. The terrain was quite rocky and bumpy,” said Master Corporal Kurtis Schmidt, Search and Rescue Technician. “There were already members of Ground SAR there and together, we provided some care for his injuries, placed him on a rescue litter and hoisted him up into the helicopter.”

With the injured man safely on board, the crew flew to Prince George airport where they met with paramedics from BC Ambulance. He was taken to local hospital in stable condition.