Rescuers drop in
Forest rangers train in helicopter rescue
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Area forest rangers got some practice carrying out helicopter rescue operations Thursday afternoon in an unused field at the state tree nursery on Route 50.
The helicopter is owned by the New York State Police, which is the unit state forest rangers turn to in situations that necessitate a helicopter operation.
Lt. John Solan, a forest ranger in Saratoga and Washington counties, said forest rangers are firstresponders to wildlife emergencies. They quickly get in and out of remote locations and transport the injured and ill to ambulances and hospitals where they can receive medical attention.
Helicopter operations are typically called in for search- and- rescue missions and when people are stranded in a remote location with an extreme injury or illness and hiking to retrieve them would take too long.
Lt. Stephen Preston said among other skill sets, the rangers know how to battle fires.
“We also use the insertion with the helicopter for some wildfire response, too. If it’s a long hike going in, a lot of times we can fly crews in and get them on the ground, working on the fire, much quicker,” Preston said.
There are quite a few precarious variables when operating a helicopter and even more so when people are being extracted and hoisted with a mechanical whirlybird.
First, the helicopter hovers steadily over its destination. Onboard the chopper is a crane that extends and lowers a ranger, who is hooked up to the crane via harness and cable.
Once on the ground, the rangers begin preliminary medical work on the victim before strapping them into a stretcher, which they call a litter.
During Thursday’s training, seasoned rangers strapped their wooden practice dummy, otherwise known as Woody, into a litter.
The team works together with a quiet and practiced discipline, their hands quickly securing Woody into his gurney.
The training
is one
of many throughout the year. There is usually a weekly training session for state forest rangers to ensure their skills stay current.
Rangers aren’t the only ones who undergo training; medical doctors based out of Glens Falls sometimes work on rescue missions with the rangers, so the doctors receive ongoing training on getting lowered from the helicopter to the ground.
“We have to have our rangers proficient at this … for the safety of the crew on the ship and also the folks on the ground,” Preston said.