Castlegar Search & Rescue (CSAR) and the Castlegar Fire Department (CFD) were involved in a rescue mission involving an injured rock climber Monday.
Reports of a fallen climber above the Brilliant Substation came in around 10 a.m.
CSAR took command of the operation, but CFD crews were active in assisting.
An ambulance was standing by as the operation was underway and a helicopter was called in to assist.
CFD Fire Chief Sam Lattanzio explained that that there was a large distance between the climber and rescue crews that had to be dealt with before a rescue could take place. The area was very steep and covered with large boulders.
Emergency crews on the ground were able to secure the patient for transport. The injured climber and one rescue team member were then raised by rope to the helicopter and taken to the West Kootenay Regional Airport where the patient was transferred to the care of the B.C Ambulance Service and taken to hospital.
Lattanzio said because the slope was approximately 200 metres down, “It just made more sense to use a helicopter to pick up the patient.”
Lattanzio reported that the climber suffered from serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
