Image: colourbox.de
The flight rescuer was able to identify the seriously injured man lying in a creek bed off the beaten track in the rocky terrain. The man was flown to the Klagenfurt clinic, as the police announced in a broadcast.
The 51-year-old hiker set out on a hike alone in the Seebachtal on the Carinthian side of the Ankogel on Thursday. In the late morning, the state warning center received an emergency call about a medical emergency at about 2,000 m above sea level via an app. The Mallnitz mountain rescue service was alerted and ordered the emergency helicopter Christophorus 7 to the area. An initial aerial search failed to locate the injured person, so the helicopter dropped the rescuer near the coordinates provided by the app. The flight rescuer discovered the seriously injured hiker a short time later in the steep, impassable, rocky terrain in a creek bed. The man was rescued by the helicopter crew by means of rope rescue, given emergency medical treatment at the intermediate landing site in the Seebachtal with the support of the Mallnitz mountain rescue service and then flown to the Klagenfurt clinic.
The accident site was far away from marked hiking trails. The GPS device with SOS emergency call function probably saved the man’s life, since there was no cell phone reception in the affected area and the cell phone he was carrying was not functional due to the fall into the creek bed, as the police emphasized in the message. The emergency call could be sent from the GPS device to Austro Control via satellite communication and thus show the exact location of the hiker who had an accident. The necessary measures were initiated via Austro Control for the purpose of communicating the necessary rescue equipment.
Source: Nachrichten
