WILDERNESS NEWS - Teamwork by a group of rescuers who came to the aid of an injured hiker on the Half Collared Kingfisher Trail about 3km upstream from Ebb and Flow Rest Camp, saved the day on Wednesday 29 June.

NSRI Wilderness was called to assist Eden 911 paramedics at about 11:00 after a 31-year-old pregnant woman from Cape Town slipped while hiking. 

SANParks rangers and Western Cape Government Health EMS were also activated to assist.

According to NSRI Wilderness station commander Mike Vonk, it soon became apparent that the river level was too low to use a sea rescue craft, and the response became a hike.

"On reaching the Eden 911 para-medics, SANParks rangers, the patient and her husband, we found her to be stable but suffering serious injuries. The patient was secured onto a backboard and we carried her along a footpath towards the nearest location that would be accessible to vehicles," said Vonk.

On reaching the exit of the trail after nearly four hours, the rescue party was met by EMS rescue technicians, Wilderness Search and Rescue members and government health forensic pathology services who had coincidentally been conducting an exercise nearby.

"The patient was loaded onto an EMS rescue vehicle and trans-ported to a roadway where she was transferred into an Eden 911 ambulance and taken to hospital," said Vonk.

Rescue at Island Lake
On Friday morning, 1 July, NSRI Wilderness received a report of a kayak that had capsized in Island Lake due to strong wind.

"The sea rescue craft Oscars Res-cuer was towed to the scene by our NSRI rescue vehicle, while NSRI rescue swimmers and Western Cape Government Health EMS responded directly to the scene. The EMS/AMS Skymed rescue helicopter was also placed on alert," said Vonk.

Arriving on the scene, three rescue swimmers from the NSRI jumped in and rescued two men, aged 21 and 20, and a woman (20) from the water.

They recovered the kayak and the EMS and NSRI paramedics treated one of the casualties for hypothermia.

No further medical assistance was needed.

"We appeal to anyone launching any kind of craft onto water to always wear a properly fitting and properly fastened life jacket," said Vonk.

The rescue party managed to carry the patient to safety over difficult terrain.

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