MIDDLETOWN ? On Saturday, April 29 at approximately 6:15 p.m. the Sonoma County Sheriff?s Helicopter ?Henry-1? was dispatched to the north side of the Geysers near Socrates Mine Road for a rescue. A Lower Lake man, 36-year-old Lou Olivari, had been hiking in a remote ravine, next to a creek when he fell and suffered a severe lower leg injury.
The creek is very remote, steep, and consists of multiple waterfalls. Due to recent rains, the water was rushing quickly through the area making the rocks slippery, according to a press release from the Sonoma County Sheriff?s Department.
Firefighters from the California Department of Forestry, Middletown station responded and began climbing down the steep ravine in an attempt to locate the hiker. Henry-1 spotted the victim from the air, then landed to set up for a long-line rescue because there was no where to land near the victim.
Sgt. Eric Thomson rigged the helicopter with a 200-foot rope and attached the other end to Paramedic Christine Gossner. The paramedic was flown on the end of the line into the ravine by Pilot Paul Bradley, who placed Gossner on a rock next to the victim. There was very little room on the rock, which was next to the rushing water.
Gossner quickly splinted the leg injury, then placed the victim into a ?horse collar? rescue device. The victim and Gossner were then lifted out of the ravine on the end of the line and flown directly to an awaiting ambulance which was parked up on the roadway.
The rescue took approximately 15 minutes. A technical rope rescue or carry-out would have taken many, many hours and would have exposed the victim and multiple rescuers to many hazards.
