Burbank Fire Department received a call of an injured female hiker that had fainted and had a leg injury on a hiking trail well above Wildwood Canyon Park right around noon Thursday.
The response for this type of call is a mountain rescue consisting of an engine company, truck company, rescue ambulance, heavy duty USAR from Pasadena and a Battalion Chief. The Police dispatched its helicopter when requested by the Battalion Chief to help locate the victim.
Burbank Firefighters climbed the trail in rugged brush and located the victim with the aid of the hovering helicopter. It was determined the patient couldn’t walk down the trail and it required the helicopter with a hoist operation to airlift the patient down the hill.
Los Angeles City Fire responded with two helicopters, a hoist ship and an observe airship. The patient was loaded on to a backboard and after Burbank Firefighters cleared a land zone, the helicopter landed and the patient was loaded into the airship and taken to a waiting paramedic ambulance on the nearby Starlight Mesa Helispot.
Following a short transfer from the hillside to the awaiting ambulance the female was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center via ground transportation.
The Burbank Fire Equipment was released and back into service at 1:30 pm. Then minutes later the fire crews were required to respond to a smell of smoke in a downtown office building.
