A young dirt biker was evacuated by emergency crews from up the North Fork close to Bluejoint Lookout, north of Grand Forks on Sunday afternoon, after he had apparently flipped his motorcycle and injured himself while riding with two others.
According to Grant Burnard of Grand Forks Search & Rescue, Grand Forks Fire/Rescue initially got the call about a motor vehicle incident and had tried to access the rider who had crashed 12 kilometres up Bluejoint Forest Service Road, but had to turn around because the fire truck could not get close to the subject. Meanwhile, two BC Wildfire members attended to the rider, keeping him warm with their jackets and keeping bugs away while waiting on first responders. They also kept the rider still as they were wary of any head or neck trauma, while he was still conscious and talking.
Burnard said that Search & Rescue got the call sometime after 4 p.m. and were up the North Fork with their SUV, truck, UTV and medical rescue gear. A Grand Forks firefighter joined the team, which included a nurse, and together they administered first aid at the scene. First responders stabilized and secured the patient, and put him in a vacuum mattress and stretcher in the back of the Search & Rescue pickup truck. They then cautiously drove him down to the 28-Mile bridge, where an ambulance was already waiting.
Search & Rescue handed the patient over to BC Emergency Health Services at 9:45 p.m., Burnard said. He explained that the trip back down took a while because they took care not to jostle the man on the rough road, for fear of aggravating any spinal injury.
Burnard said that hospital later confirmed that the rider had suffered a fractured vertebra in the accident and that the care and transport of the subject, with help from BC Wildfire and Grand Forks Fire/Rescue, resulted in the best possible outcome, given the situation.
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Jensen.edwards@grandforksgazette.ca
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