Penticton Search and Rescue’s Easter Sunday turned out to be a busy one as 15 members along with 10 other climbers in the Skaha Bluffs area assisted in the rescue of a 30-year-old man with a broken leg who was climbing in one of the local caves.
Around 3:40 p.m. PENSAR manager Mark Pfeifer received the rescue call of an injured man with a severe lower leg injury in the Skaha Bluffs area.
Three Penticton Search and Rescue members who were climbing in the area were able to get to the scene quickly and provide an assessment of the injured man as well as his location.
The injured climber had slipped into a cave and suffered a possible fracture that required immediate evacuation. While rescue resources were being deployed to the area, the victim remained under the care of fellow climbers which included a paramedic and nurse.
Skaha Bluffs is a complex area to conduct rescues due to the steep canyon terrain which creates a set of natural barriers for rescue crews to access the area in a timely fashion, said Pfeifer.
With help from all the volunteers, the injured man was evacuated to an area where he was finally airlifted out by 6:20 p.m.
Pfeifer would like to thank the additional support provided by climbers who volunteered at the scene and provided comfort, medical aid and evacuation assistance.
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