Injured snowmobiler flown from Elk Lake to Bend
A Seattle woman who crashed her rented snowmobile near Todd Lake on Friday sought medical help Saturday at Elk Lake Lodge, prompting a call-out of Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue and a Life Flight helicopter trip to Bend, officials said.
SAR personnel were dispatched around 9:45 a.m. Saturday to assist Katje Fiala, 36, who was renting a cabin with her family at Elk Lake Lodge, said sheriff’s Deputy Jim Whitcomb.
The woman said she had crashed the snowmobile between two trees around 10:30 a.m. Friday, Whitcomb said. The accident was not initially reported, but Fiala realized Saturday morning she’d need further medical assistance, he said.
The process was complicated by Century Drive being closed for the winter, open only to snowmobiles and skiers, Whitcomb said.
A team of four SAR members and a SAR deputy rode snowmobiles to the lodge, with one of the snowmobiles pulling an ambu-sled for the patient.
They arrived around 12:15 p.m. and conducted a medical assessment, determining Fiala should be taken to St. Charles Bend by air ambulance, Whitcomb said.
Life Flight was dispatched and landed around 1:20 p.m. at the intersection of Century Drive and the entrance to Elk Lake, west of Mt. Bachelor.
Fiala was flown to the Bend hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Whitcomb said.
