Hoist Soboba Canyon

October 06, 2015
Soboba, San Jacinto
2015-041

Written by Cameron Dickinson

A rescue call went out to the team on the evening of October 6th regarding a male that was immobile in steep terrain in the hills northeast of the Soboba Casino. As the team was dispatched to the scene it was unclear at that time whether this mission would require an aerial hoist or a technical rescue from the ground. Fellow team member Eric and myself were in route to the Hemet Ryan Airport, while Kevin, Glenn, and Gwenda were on their way to scene with the team vehicle.

Once we arrived at the airport, Sheriff's Aviation had already obtained the subjects GPS coordinates of his location. With this information we were able review the terrain using satellite mapping which helped us better understand the conditions which our subject was in. The plan was to be dropped off on the hill above our subject, hike down to see if was possible to reach our subject with the intent to perform a hoist. At this point the rest of our team arrived at the scene. The terrain between us and our subject below was very steep, with soft soil, and lots of loose rock. We determined with a careful approach, we can safely get down to our subject. We were able to get to subject, confirmed he didn't require any medical attention, and radioed to our Aviation awaiting overhead that were preparing for a hoist. Our subject was hoisted up into the helicopter and safely dropped off in an open field by the road below.

RMRU Members Involved: Cameron Dickinson, Glenn Henderson, Eric Holden, Kevin Kearn, and Gwenda Yates.

iverside County Sheriff's Dept.: RSO Aviation.

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