Carson City, Washoe Valley emergency teams rescue man stuck in snow between Virginia Foothills, Goni Road
Teams from Carson City Sheriff’s Office, Carson City Search and Rescue, and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office successfully rescued an individual stuck in the snow in the hills between Goni Road and the Virginia Foothills Friday morning.
According to Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong, an individual called 911 in the middle of the night on Thursday night, stating they were cold and wet and stuck on the top of the mountain, but could not provide an accurate location.
Washoe County and Carson City began Search and Rescue operations to try and locate the individual. Crews from Carson City began searching from the north end of the area while Washoe County crews began searching from the south.
A Search and Rescue team located the individual just after 9:30 a.m., who had become stuck in the snow and was suffering from hypothermia and appeared disoriented. After crews arrived, the symptoms of hypothermia became exacerbated, and the individual became extremely confused and was unable to walk.
A REMSA team from Washoe County joined with the Carson City Sheriff’s Office to rescue the individual.
A ground extraction procedure took place using a RAVEN (Regional Aviation Enforcement Unit) helicopter from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office after reaching the individual proved difficult using ground crews alone due to the amount of snow.
Once extracted, the individual was be taken to Renown Medical Center to treat hypothermia and any other injuries sustained.
Search and Rescue would like to remind all individuals to never leave their vehicle if they become stuck or lost, as survival is far more likely within a vehicle than on foot, and vehicles are more visible to air crews.