LOUISVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew rescued a hiker suffering a medical emergency in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified shortly after 3:00 p.m. Wednesday of the injured hiker needing medical assistance and transport to a hospital. The hiker was injured along the False Gap Trail in a remote area of the park southeast of Gatlinburg, near the North Carolina border.
The Tennessee Department of Military said guardsmen assigned to Task Force Smokey assembled a flight crew and a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for the flight once TEMA was notified of the possible mission.
The Blackhawk left McGhee-Tyson just after 3:30 p.m, and arrived at the rescue site in roughly 12 minutes later, officials said.
The flight crew consisted of two pilots, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Thomas McKnight and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andre Salas, crew chief Sgt. Gabriel Weston, and two flight paramedics, Sgt. 1st Class Giovanni DeZuani and John Sharbel.
TDM said that once the hiker and rescue crew were located, Weston used the hoist to lower Sharbel from the hovering helicopter to the hiker and rescue crew. Sharbel performed a medical assessment of the hiker and readied the patient to be hoisted into the aircraft. After rendering aid, the hiker and flight medic were hoisted into the Blackhawk helicopter.
The Blackhawk flew the rescued hiker to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
