Two injured Smith Rock hikers rescued by Redmond Fire, DCSO Search and Rescue

TERREBONNE, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two California women injured while hiking trails at Smith Rock State Park around the same time Tuesday afternoon were assisted by Redmond Fire personnel and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers, officials said Wednesday.

Dispatchers at 911 got a call around 2:40 p.m. reporting an injured hiker, a 25-year-old Simi Valley resident, near the Misery Ridge Trail, said sheriff's Deputy Aaron Myers, assistant search and rescue coordinator.

Redmond Fire crews responded and determined that due to her injury, the woman was unable to make it down the trail without the assistance of a wheeled litter, so they requested SAR assistance, Myers said.

Around 4:20 p.m., dispatchers took a call of another injured hiker, a 43-year-old San Jose resident who had been hiking on the Mesa Verde Trail. A dozen Search and Rescue volunteers were still responding to the park at the time, arriving about five minutes later.

Two volunteers were able to walk to the second woman and began a medical assessment, soon assisted by others on the team, while six others continued up the trail to the first hiker’s location.

It was determined both hikers would need to be helped down the trail in wheeled litters. The San Jose woman was brought a short distance down the trail in the wheeled litter and across the river to waiting Redmond Fire medics, who evaluated her further. She was then released to her family.

The other six SAR volunteers placed the Simi Valley woman in a wheeled litter, and both groups brought her down the trial about a half-mile to the river crossing, after which Redmond Fire personnel also evaluated her, and she was released to friends.