Teen with medical issue rescued near Three Creek Lake

A 17-year-old from Washington state suffered a serious medical emergency during a hike near Three Creek Lake west of Bend on Tuesday, prompting a rescue effort and an air ambulance flight to St. Charles Bend, authorities said.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers received a report shortly before 10 a.m. that the teen boy from Enumclaw, Wash., had experienced a medical emergency while hiking the Park Meadow Trail, about 1 1/2 miles southeast of Three Creek Lake, said Lt. Bryan Husband, Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue coordinator.

The medical issue wasn’t observed at first, but his mother and a separate hiking group made up of several off-duty medical professionals were nearby and rushed to the scene to render aid, Husband said,

Ten SAR volunteers, as well as Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District personnel, went to the Park Meadow Trailhead, at the north end of Three Creek Lake, and hiked in to the patient, the lieutenant said.

Meanwhile, the first group that had found the 17-year-old devised an improvised stretcher and began carrying him back down the trail, toward the arriving SAR volunteers.

The first SAR members met the patient about a mile in on the trail shortly after 11 a.m., quickly assessed his status and requested an air ambulance, Husband said.

A Life Flight helicopter crew responded and arrived around 11:30 a.m., taking the teen to the Bend hospital for further evaluation and treatment.