A hiker was rescued, after running into trouble on Mount Elizabeth near Kitimat over the weekend.
    Two members of Kitimat Search and Rescue, who'd been involved in hosting the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Kitimat at the time, were flown to the area by helicopter Saturday evening, after receiving reports of a 50-year-old man who was in distress.
    A couple of paramedics from the Kitimat Fire Department were also brought in.  
    When it became too dark for the Quantum Helicopter to lift off from the mountain, four more K-SAR members hiked up the trail bringing medical supplies while a Canadian Forces Helicopter was summoned from Comox, to perform a long-line night extraction of the hiker.   He and a hiking companion were picked up from an area above the "Lookout" on Mount Elizabeth at around 4am Sunday morning.  

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OFFICIAL RELEASE:

On the evening of Saturday October 5^th, British Columbia Ambulance Service (BCAS) requested Kitimat Search and Rescue (KSAR) to respond to a distressed 50-year-old male hiker in need of medical attention on Mount Elizabeth.

Two responding KSAR members reached the vicinity of the subject via helicopter and due to the subject’s condition it was determined that additional support and equipment was required to stabilize and transport the patient to the helicopter’s location. Consequently, a request was made for the assistance of two paramedics from the Kitimat Fire Department. After packaging and transporting the subject to the helicopter it had become too dark to fly and the helicopter was grounded until first light.

Due to concerns over the stability of the patient and the apparent need for additional medical attention, a decision was made by the respondent parties to request the assistance of a Cormorant Helicopter from Canadian Air Force 442 Squadron based out of Comox, BC to perform a long-line night extraction of the distressed hiker.

An additional team of four KSAR members was dispatched at approximately 10 PM, tasked with accessing the subject by hiking the Mount Elizabeth recreational trail, in the dark, to bring much needed medical supplies.

At approximately 4 AM, the crew from Squadron 442 successfully extracted the distressed hiker from an area above “The Lookout” on Mount Elizabeth.

The members of KSAR and the Kitimat Fire Department, as well as the hiking companion of the injured party were safely flown from the mountain in the early hours of Sunday October 6^th and the task was complete by 10:30 AM.

KSAR would like to thank the members of the Kitimat Fire Department, Quantum Helicopters and CAF Squadron 442 Comox for their contributions to the successful outcome of this rescue. KSAR would also like to thank their members who departed early from the KSAR hosted Banff Mountain Film Festival in order to respond to this emergency.