Injured horseback rider rescued on Green Lakes Trail

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A horseback rider on the Green Lakes Trail was seriously injured Thursday afternoon when her horse jumped and landed on her, prompting a rescue effort by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a report around 1:40 p.m. of an injured rider on the Green Lakes Trail, about 3 ½ miles from the trailhead, according to Lt. Bryan Husband, the county’s search and rescue coordinator.

The rider, a 33-year-old Albany woman, apparently had been walking her horse across a creek when it jumped and landed on her, stepping on her back and head, Husband said. Deschutes County SAR was contacted to help the woman.

Due to potentially serious injuries, AirLink agreed to bring two DCSO SAR medical team members as close to the patient as possible, to make first contact. Two other SAR members who were in the Devil’s Lake Trailhead area also responded and started down the trail on foot.

A deputy and 13 more SAR team members also headed to the trailhead from Bend and began hiking in to help bring the woman out by wheeled litter, if the helicopter could not get close, Husband said.

The two SAR volunteers who responded from Devil’s Lake arrived at the woman’s location about 3:20 p.m., while AirLink was able to land about a mile away.

The SAR medical team arrived a short time later, assessed the woman, stabilizing her as much as possible and with help from other ground team members brought her by wheeled litter to the AirLink helicopter, arriving around 5 p.m., Husband said. The woman was flown to St. Charles Bend for further treatment.

Husband said the sheriff’s office would like to thank AirLink for its assistance in the rescue.