The Longhorn Helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) Team from Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon conducted a rescue of a man who fell into Double Hot Springs on the Black Rock Playa, about 30 miles northeast of Gerlach on Friday, May 21st.
NAS Fallon received a request for an immediate response from Washoe County Sheriff via the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC).
Washoe County had received an activated rescue beacon via a personal GPS tracking device and initiated their rescue efforts. Due to current weather conditions in Reno delaying Washoe County’s RAVEN and recent precipitation at the playa, the NAS Fallon SAR Team was activated at 6:16 Friday night.
A crew of four departed NAS Fallon at 7:14 p.m. in Longhorn 02 for the 100-mile transit to the incident scene. Just prior to launch, Washoe County’s RAVEN was able to launch from Reno to assist in patient packaging with the intent to transfer the survivor to 02 for further transfer to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno. After arriving at the station, the crew immediately spotted the location of the survivor thanks to RAVEN personnel signaling via red smoke. The Longhorn 02 crew made an immediate landing near ground personnel and deployed the Rescue Crew Chief (RCC), Helicopter Inland Rescue Aircrewmen (HIRA), and a SAR Medical Technician (SMT) to coordinate the transfer. With the assistance of ground personnel, the crew carried the patient via litter into the aircraft.
With the survivor, who had sustained severe burns on 36% of his body, safely onboard the aircraft, the crew, along with two REMSA Health SAR Techs provided in-flight care during the 45-minute transit to Reno where the survivor was turned over to the Renown Emergency Room.
The crew consisted of mission commander Lt. Conrad Schmidt (Silverthorne, CO), copilot Lt. Elizabeth Frey (Virginia Beach, VA), RCC Chief Petty Officer Jeffery Roscoe (Bay City, MI), HIRA Petty Officer 2nd Class Abdullah Nurmohamed (St. Rose, LA) and SMT Hospital Corpsman Jacob Parker (Pensacola, FL).
This rescue was the fifth rescue of 2021 for the NAS Fallon SAR Team. The Navy-trained and equipped SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms with the primary mission of military SAR alert for the Fallon Range Training Complex in Nevada.
Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines, and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the AFRCC for inland missions, and/or tasking by the NAS Fallon Commanding Officer for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.
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