Hypothermic and dehydrated: Coastguard rescues hiker after days of searching!

Astoria (Oregon/USA) - A missing woman had tobe rescued in a joint operation by the US Coast Guardand partner organizations. The 64-year-old hiker was stuck in Shore Acres State Park and could not be found for several days. The woman had already been reported missing on Friday evening after she became separated from her group while searching for edible plants and disappeared.

The aerial search was initially unsuccessful.
The aerial search was initially unsuccessful.  © U.S. Coast Guard

As the site was difficult to access and darkness was already falling, they had to rely on the help of the Oregon Coast Guard.

An initial helicopter flight over the site took place on the night of the disappearance. Despite the use of a thermal imaging camera, the search team was unable to find anyone.

On the following Saturday, the area was combed by ground troops, but they again requested the help of the Coast Guard. Another flight mission that day still failed to locate the woman.

Another flight team set out to search with a helicopter equipped with an infrared camera - again without success.

After hours of searching, success finally comes

In the end, they managed to get the woman safely into the helicopter.
In the end, they managed to get the woman safely into the helicopter.  © U.S. Coast Guard

On Sunday, another team was brought in and finally succeeded in locating the missing woman.

Members of the ground search team suddenly heard screams at around 12.30 pm. After struggling through the thicket for a while, they spotted the dehydrated and hypothermic hiker.

A helicopter was immediately requested so that she could receive medical treatment as quickly as possible. While they waited, the emergency services took her to a safe pick-up point and lit a warming fire.

The rescued woman was then airlifted to Bay Area Hospital in North Bend.

The emergency services had a rescue bag with them for the woman, who was completely hypothermic.
The emergency services had a rescue bag with them for the woman, who was completely hypothermic.  © Montage: U.S. Coast Guard

The missing woman was virtually impossible for the helicopters to find

In retrospect, it also turned out why the attempts with thermal imaging cameras repeatedly failed: The 64-year-old had sought shelter under a tree trunk and had thus become invisible to the rescue workers. Luckily, when she noticed the helicopters, she started screaming to draw attention to herself.

Several teams were involved in the rescue operation, which lasted almost nine hours over five missions."The Coast Guard and our partner agencies here on the Oregon Coast train together regularly to ensure we can conduct coordinated search and rescue missions whenever we are needed," said Commander Jay Kircher, incident commander and one of the helicopter pilots.