Editor's Note: The Sandisfield Fire Department, along with Otis and Riverton, responded to a call about a seriously hurt rock climber at Hanging Mountain in early May. Jane Kaufman reported the story for the Eagle, May 11. We've reprinted it here, with permission.

Deputy Fire Chief Eric Pachulski, one of the first responders on the scene, told The Times that there had never been calls to the department for help on the climbing site in the four years its been in operation. He added, "I hope there's not another one. It's incredibly steep, even the trails getting to the cliffs. It's incredibly difficult to maneuver a stretcher down from there." Hanging Mountain, the second-highest climbing site in southern New England, features a 1,000-foot-long series of granite and gneiss cliffs ranging from 60 to 240 feet in height with over 80 planned climbing routes. It is owned entirely by climbing organizations.

The woman, 31, was conscious and alert when Sandisfield Deputy Fire Chief Eric Pachulski arrived at the face of the climbing area. He was one of two firefighters first to respond to a 911 traumatic head injury call that came in at about 5:42 p.m.

When he and the other Sandisfield firefighters arrived about 15 minutes later, they did an initial medical assessment and then awaited further help before attempting to move the patient, explaining there's a protocol for any movement. The patient also complained of arm pain, he said.

"The patient was wearing a helmet, but regardless, she had a head trauma, so [she] needed to be extricated," Pachulski said. "She wasn't able to walk out on her own."

Pachulski estimated that rescuers, including the Riverton Rope Rescue Team based in Litchfield County, Conn., transported the woman about 200 feet down the mountain. She was placed in a stokes basket stretcher. The initial rescue took about a half hour, he said.

"I would say the whole entire journey was challenging," Pachulski said. "They're going over wet, slippery boulders and muddy areas and natural grade. So, there are trails there, but they're not really meant for that type of thing. They're meant for just a hiking trail to get up to the face of the mountain. So a lot of places are not really wide enough for that type of movement."

While typically three people are positioned on each side of the basket for transporting it with an additional person at the head and foot, Pachulski said it wasn't always possible for that arrangement to be used.

"Due to the terrain, you kind of have to hand it off as you go sometimes," he said.

Riverton Fire Chief Norman Bird responded for the Riverton Rope Rescue Team. He was one of four or five members of the team to respond.

His team provided a wheel to attach to the bottom of the stretcher that made the rescue smoother and safer than a purely hand-held carry might have been. In addition, the team set up a lowering system, which provides a braking system for those performing the rescue, which was used during one steep stretch of the trail.

"I think the extrication went really smoothly based on our experiences of many extrications in the past [that] were in rocky steep situations," Bird said. "It was done safely. I don't think any of the rescuers were injured. And given the circumstances, I think the patient got the very best of care."

He said rescuers talked with the patient continuously. He also credited rock climbers for their efforts in the rescue and praised the command of Sandisfield Fire Chief Dan Andrus.

The Otis Rescue Squad staged at the parking lot of Hanging Mountain, where Medic 3 out of Winsted Health Center provided paramedic level care. The patient was transported about a mile by ambulance to Roosterville Road and Route 8, where a Life Star helicopter picked her up.

"Due to the extreme extrication circumstances, a coordinated effort by Fire, EMS and bystander personnel was necessary to evacuate the patient to the parking lot safely and efficiently," the Sandisfield Fire Department said in a statement.

During the extraction, it received a second medical call in town, which the New Marlborough Fire Department handled.