A technical rescue in the Umkomaas Valley took place this afternoon to assist a female that sustained serious injuries at the base of a waterfall. Reports from the scene indicate that the forty three year old female and family hiked to the base of the Shelter falls when she slipped and injured herself.
Netcare 911 paramedics arrived at the scene and had to hike about a kilometer down a trail with their equipment to get to the patient. Police search and rescue was called to the scene to assist paramedics to get the patient back up the steep trail.
After the patient was stabilised and deftly secured in a stokes rescue stretcher, rescuers hiked back up the mountain to where the ambulance was parked. Once at the top she was loaded into an ambulance and then transported to a hospital in Pietermaritzburg under the constant care of an advanced life support paramedic.
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