Guard helicopter airlifts injured hiker near North Sister

A hiker from Eugene injured in a fall near a lake north of the North Sister was hoisted aboard an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter late Thursday afternoon for a trip to a Springfield hospital, capping a seven-hour Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue effort that began with a text-message emergency beacon.

County 911 dispatchers received a call around 9:20 a.m. from International Emergency Response Center (http://www.geosalliance.com/) seeking assistance for a client who activated a text message-capable emergency beacon, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ronny Dozier, the agency’s SAR operations manager.

The woman, identified as Daniel Ravencraft, 43, of Eugene, texted them to say she had been hiking with her Mastiff service dog, had fallen and was injured and unable to keep moving, Dozer said.

Ravencraft’s coordinates showed she was just west of Yapoah Lake, located about five miles north of the North Sister and 2-3 miles south of Highway 242 (the McKenzie Pass Highway).

SAR responded with two four-person teams, a two-person horse team and a sergeant to her last known location.

It took until about 1 p.m. for the SAR teams to reach the woman, evaluate and stabilize her and prepare her for removal from the scene.

An Oregon Army National Guard HH-60M Blackhawk helicopter was called to the scene,, leaving Salem around 3 p.m., and about an hour later hoisted Ravencraft’s litter aboard for further treatment and a reported trip to a Springfield hospital, PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

A house supervisor at the Springfield hopsital said Ravencraft was treated for her injuries and released.

Ravencraft’s service dog was taken by rescuers to the sheriff’s office substation in Sisters, where it was released to a close friend of the woman, from Eugene, Dozier said.