Police Helicopter Rescue of Snowmobiler After Avalanche
39,293
Published 2019-09-18
All party members had avalanche transceivers, shovels, and airbag packs. Probes were carried by three of the four members. One rider sustained minor injuries. The more seriously injured (but alive) rider, seen in this video, would ultimately be found to have sustained a head injury with disrupted vision in his right eye, an unclassified right shoulder injury, injury to his left knee (MCL and ACL), and multiple complex fractures to his lower left leg. He had been buried face-up, head uphill, with his legs slightly down and to the left. His left arm was free and snow nearly covered his head. The other surviving party had been buried up to his waist and self-extricated, from there providing immediate life-saving assistance to the pictured party and getting notification of emergency services in motion. (Due to their location, direct communication was not possible. complex task which required radio relays.
One of the victims, James Larson, 41, was a 14-year veteran of the Bonny Lake police department. The other fatality was Zach Roundtree, 27, an Air Force veteran also of Bonny Lake.
Nearly all of the known information on this accident can be found in the associated Northwest Avalanche Center incident report, available in a public post on Patreon.
~~~
Real World Police is proud to be a Sunshine Supporter of the Washington Coalition for Open Government — working to educate, advocate, and litigate the public's right to know. Want to know more about access to public records in Washington? Visit www.washingtoncog.org.
~~~
Do you have independently verifiable inside information on a story we are or should be covering? Email [email protected]. Your identity will not be revealed without your consent. Because we receive dozens of tips daily we cannot respond individually to every submission. If we need more information from you someone will be in touch.
Remember: we don't publish footage that has already been published. Please don’t send links to news articles.
~~~
Follow us on Twitter @realworldpolice
~~~
Want to help make Real World Police happen and get rewarded for it? Become a supporter on Patreon today! Supporters get access to:
-Exclusive full-length Real World Police videos
-The Roadcam series
-Supporting documentation: police reports, court records, and other investigatory material
-Material from cases not shown on the main channel, like the arrest of Chris Hansen and the detention of T-Pain that time he accidentally tried to bring a gun through airport security
-Early access to some videos
-And more!
patreon.com/realworldpolice
Rather not?
That works too. There are more than 490 free videos to enjoy!
All Comments (21)
-
That was my best friend….thank you for saving his life and taking care of him during the darkest day of his life. I can not thank you enough
-
The other snowmobilers did an impressive job of helping their injured buddy too. Made a litter/mat out of pine branches, stabilized his leg the best they could, and even communicated the deceased further up the mountain.
-
Dude, youre on your game today. This channel is probably my most-watched channel. Nobody posts stuff like this dude. More support from me bro
-
The professionalism of these men are truly something else.
-
Brave rescuers. Nothing is sweeter than seeing help when you are injured and on top of a mountain.
-
In case anyone reading this frequents avalanche prone areas. If you are in an avalanche before you come to rest tuck your nose and mouth into your elbow to create an air pocket. Once buried spit to determine which way is up, then see if you can move anything. If you’re trapped stop trying to move and relax as much as possible to conserve oxygen. There are anecdotes of people peeing to melt the snow and gain some mobility. When in backcountry you should always have at least one avalanche transponder on your person, but ideally two. They sell winter clothing with these built in. And also your party should have a locator for these transponders. If your friends are missing after an avalanche you need to act quickly and begin searching by sticking a stick into the ground, and using the transponders if you have one.
-
No basket to lift him? I was rescued off a boat and put into a basket. I suffered a decompression hit attempting to rescue a buddy of mine on a deep offshore wreck dive in Key Largo, FL. Much respect for these rescuers👍 They saved my life
-
So Sad that two perished. Such a beautiful day with friends. Those Avalanches have no mercy. Thanks be to the first responders getting the young man to a hospital as soon as possible, your amazing! Prayers to the families involved 😞
-
Pro ball players please stand back so these real American heroes can work!
-
How do these guys do this its crazy, I can't believe the risk they take every time someone needs to be rescued they do an amazing job
-
RIP to the two that didn't make it
-
High praise to the helicopter crew for the jobs they do in situations like this that they risk their own lives doing this. Years and years of training go into this.
-
I remember hearing this news. I live in Bonney Lake and it was a gut punch to our small town. Thank you for sharing this video. KCSO Air Support is top notch.
-
Also the guy being airlifted was SUPER stoic. He not only had been in a horrible accident, he may or may not have known that his buddies were dead, and he took a helo lift with totally UNSUPPORTED compound comminuted (shattered into little pieces, some of them poking through the skin) leg and he never complained once about hurting. F*** me. I would have been sobbing. Again, BRAVO to the rescue crew. Had you not been there, this easily could have increased to a three person fatality.
-
Hats off to the pilots on their hovering and this entire crew!!! My brother is the same position as the cam man here in utah , prayers for him and this crew and all others! Amazing dangerous job and these guys do it alllll the time!
-
Wow...what a rescue. I’m surprised the patient didn’t pass out. Thanks to the rescuers!
-
That rescue team is absolutely amazing. The dude's riding down the cable from the helicopter must have balls made of titanium.
-
These guys are amazing how quickly they complete their rescues.
-
Thank You for this Video!
-
You guys are heros thanks for doing a good job
