Louisville, TN – In the late afternoon of Saturday, March 22nd, a flight crew from the Tennessee Army National Guard, based at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson, rescued an injured hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Shortly after 5:30pm, eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) were notified of an injured hiker needing medical assistance and rapid transport to a nearby hospital. The hiker was in a remote area of the park, along a hiking trail near the Ramsey Cascades waterfall, east of Gatlinburg.
Once TEMA was notified of the possible mission, the Tennessee National Guardsmen, assigned to Task Force Smokey, assembled a flight crew and readied a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for flight. After the mission was approved, the aircraft departed Joint Base McGhee-Tyson at approximately 7:20pm, flying directly to the rescue hoisting site determined by Park Service Rangers who were attending to the hiker.
The Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew consisted of two pilots, Capt. Andrew Rines and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Brasfield, the crew chief, Sgt. Christopher Burke, and two flight paramedics, Sgt. 1st Class John Sharbel and Giovanni Dezuani.
Nine minutes after launching, the aircraft and crew contacted Park Service Rangers with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and five minutes later arrived at the hoisting location where the hiker had been moved to. The aircraft located the hiker and park rangers, who were rendering first aid.
At roughly 7:45pm, the aircraft crew chief, Christopher Burke, lowered John Sharbel and Giovanni Dezuani, the fight paramedics, to the ground by hoist to do a quick medical assessment and prepare the hiker for transport. After a few minutes rendering aid, the hiker and Sharbel were then hoisted into the Blackhawk helicopter hovering above where first aid was continued. Dezuani was then hoist into the hovering aircraft. Once everyone was safely on board, the aircraft flew to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
At approximately 8:30pm, the aircraft landed at the medical center where medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room. Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, the aircraft returned to Louisville and landed just before 9:00pm.
