Video captured the rescue of injured hikers who fell off a cliff from a Mount San Jacinto trail near the Palm Springs area.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Air Rescue team located the two using technology aboard the helicopter.
“His injuries when he first got in there, obviously facial trauma,” Jason Beeman, a deputy sheriff rescue specialist told KTLA. "And then he complained of shoulder, wrist and leg pain.”
The rescue location was down a treacherous path and made access difficult for rescuers and aircrew members.
“This was a pretty challenging call, given the terrain,” said Cpl. Mike Calhoun, the pilot involved. “It was very vertical.”
The two hikers had run out of water on their trip, so they attempted to take a shortcut through the trail when they slipped and fell, officials said.
The hiker who was more severely injured was responsive when he was located and airlifted to safety.
“I put a spinal mobilization, a C-collar that goes on so his head wouldn’t move and then I packaged him because I knew the quickest way to get him treatment was to get him off the hill,” the medic explained.
