The Sunshine Coast LifeFlight helicopter crew has winched a climber, who was injured after plunging five metres, while descending from the summit of Mt Tibrogargan.
The man, who is aged in his twenties, landed near Chicken Rock at the base of the steepest and final section of the summit climb.
The rescue helicopter was called into action at 10am today (Thurs 29th) to assist Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics, who were already at the scene.
Flying in the Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter, the crew carefully assessed the position of the patient and other factors.
It was decided a winch operation was the safest retrieval method.
The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and QAS Flight Paramedic were first lowered to the mountainside, where they worked with the paramedics on the ground to treat, then secure the patient onto a stretcher.
The aircraft then returned to perform a series of three winches, hoisting the Doctor, then the stretcher patient and finally, the Flight Paramedic into the helicopter.
The injured climber was flown to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition, suffering head, pelvic and back injuries.
The Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission Helicopter performed this mission. The aircraft is part of LifeFlight Australia’s commercial operation, which supports the work of the community helicopter fleet, through our profit-for-purpose model.
It is currently based at the Sunshine Coast and is rotated through our community bases from time to time, when operationally required.
