Bend snowmobiler hits downed tree, seriously injured, prompting rescue effort

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend snowmobiler struck a downed tree and was seriously injured near Sparks Lake Sunday afternoon, prompting a call for help, a rescue effort and an air ambulance flight to St. Charles Bend, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

County dispatchers got a 911 call shortly before 1 p.m. about the injured 64-year-old Bend woman on Trail 5, about three miles west of Dutchman Flat Sno-Park, said Deputy Kyle Joye, assistant Search and Rescue coordinator.

A deputy called the reporting party, who said the woman had hit a downed tree on Trail 5, about three miles west of the sno-park and would need assistance to return there and get to an ambulance, Joye said.

Six SAR volunteers responded to the call, along with a Special Services deputy. While en route, a volunteer with advanced life support training contacted the reporting party and learned the woman’s condition was worsening, so the deputy requested an air ambulance respond to the scene.

A hasty medical team arrived at the patient around 2:20 p.m., around the same time an AirLink helicopter was able to land, Joye said.

SAR volunteers conducted patient care, along with AirLink, and the woman was placed on the helicopter about 2:45 p.m.