Naval Air Station Whidbey Island’s Search and Rescue team conducted three mountain rescues in north central Washington from Aug. 26 through Aug. 28.

The first rescue mission, which occurred Saturday afternoon, was for a 75-year-old man who suffered a head injury while hiking near Upper Eagle Lake in the Okanogan Mountain range at an elevation of approximately 7,600 feet above mean sea level.

During the flight to the man’s reported location, the crew members had to navigate through patches of wildfire smoke. Once they reached the east side of Glacier Mountain, visibility improved and they spotted the survivor waving a space blanket.

At about 4:45 p.m., the SAR crew inserted its rescue personnel via rappel. About 20 minutes later they hoisted their crew and the injured man into the helicopter and transported the hiker to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Sunday night, the SAR team received an alert for a 34-year-old woman who fell ill at Holman Pass on the east side of Ross Lake at an elevation of approximately 5,200 feet above mean sea level. The crew had to navigate through low visibility from wildfire smoke on this flight, as well. Once on scene, the crew located the sick woman in a low, heavily forested saddle between two ridgelines.

At 11:45 p.m., the SAR crew inserted its rescue personnel via rappel. Once on the ground, they completed a thorough assessment of the survivor and prepared her in the litter for hoist into the helicopter. The SAR crew delivered her to St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham just after 1 a.m.

Later that afternoon on Aug. 28, NAS Whidbey’s SAR team received a report about a 19-year-old woman who broke her ankle on the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail at 6,000 feet above mean sea level, two miles north of Mt. Baker.

As the crew assembled, they spoke with the Whatcom County SAR coordinator and received updated medical information and a cell phone number for a group of hikers on scene with the survivor. The crew called the on-scene hikers and asked them to turn on any lights they had once they could hear the helicopter. Once the crew members arrived just after 6 p.m., they immediately spotted flashing lights from the hikers.

The SAR crew hoisted the patient and rescue team aboard around 6:40 p.m. for the flight to St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham and transferred the injured hiker to hospital staff just before 7 p.m.

NAS Whidbey SAR has conducted 32 missions this calendar year, which includes one MEDEVAC, four searches and 27 rescues.

Official Navy Photo NAS Whidbey Island’s SAR team rescued a 19-year-old woman who broke her ankle on the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail at 6,000’ MSL, two miles north of Mt. Baker.