On Wednesday evening, November 4th, units from Crescent City Fire & Rescue and Del Norte Ambulance were dispatched to the beach area off the west end of 3rd Street in Crescent City just before 5:00pm. Officers from the Crescent City Police Department and a CALFIRE engine from Crescent City also responded to the reports of a teenaged male who had fallen from a rock. While responding dispatch advised that bystanders were trying to keep the teen’s head above water.
An officer From Crescent City Police Department was first on scene and located the victim at the far west end of a reef off the end if 4th Street. The officer was able to keep the victim’s head above water while additional fire and ambulance responders accessed the reef location.
The victim had fallen from a height of approximately 20-30′ from a rock and into the rock debris below, sustaining major injuries. After removing the victim from the water and securing him to a rescue board, multiple rescuers transported the victim across the reef through a tangle of large rocks to the edge of the sand.
On a backboard, the victim was placed onto an all-terrain utility vehicle from the police department and transported across the beach to a location below the end of 4th Street. The victim was then placed into a rescue basket and vertical lifted by ladder truck from the beach to the roadway level where the patient was transferred to Del Norte Ambulance and transported to Sutter Coast Hospital in serious condition.
“The four agencies involved worked very well together in the challenging rescue effort to get the victim from the ocean, across rough terrain to the roadway where the victim could be transported to the hospital” said Fire Chief Bill Gillespie. During the course of this rescue, Crescent City Fire & Rescue also responded to two additional calls for service.
