Locking in at any moment: Local Med-Flight 1 team details life-saving mountain rescue mission

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A 13-year-old boy is expected to make a full recovery after a mountain biking incident in Amherst County ended with an airlift Sunday evening. 8News heard from the Chesterfield County Fire and Virginia State Police Med-Flight 1 responders who made the life-saving rescue.

The first responders told our team that their work takes teamwork, training and a whole lot of muscle memory.

"We all rely on each other for these missions," said Chris Orr with Chesterfield County Fire and EMS.

Officials said the call came to the Chesterfield Med-Flight 1 team in the evening of Sunday, April 20. The moments that followed consisted of a fury of trying to learn as much information as they could, while acting quickly to get the helicopter ready and the team prepared.

They learned that the 13-year-old boy was injured along the Cashaw Creek Trail System after he lost control of his mountain bike and plummeted down the mountain.

Chesterfield Lieutenant Mike Abbott piloted the helicopter and took the team to UVA Medical Center after the team successfully pulled the patient out of the woods and into the sky.

While the team practices extensively and regularly, this type of mission was complicated by the particularly narrow opening in the woods through which Med-Flight 1 members had to navigate in order to reach the patient. They had about 30 feet by 30 feet to work with, and the patient and his company were camouflaged by the thick mountains and trees.

"Things go through your mind about, you know, the dangers of the mission," Lt. Abbott said.
"But you stay pretty focused on the mission."

On Tuesday, April 22, 8News learned that a first responder's focus can be locked in at any moment, as a call can come in at any time, even during a TV news interview.

"We were actually able to just hoist the patient into the aircraft, get that individual situated, and then treat him on the fly and go straight to the hospital with him without having to miss a beat," said Abbott, who began answering 8News' last question before a blaring beeping sound roared out across the hangar. "I think that is crucial to the overall ability to not delay care [nor] delay transport to the hospital... and that's -- that's a call for us."

The whole preparation took what seemed like less than 10 minutes. Immediately after the call, everyone went into turbo mode -- loading up, packing and taking off from Chesterfield County to the Chesapeake Bay area.

"Having this helicopter really helps us travel into other scenes," said Virginia State Police Senior Trooper Pilot Andy Wood. "It carries a larger fuel load, which allows us to get to a further distance. We also are able to help people all the way out into the Appalachian Trail, all the way up north into the northern parts of Virginia, as well as any type of situation to the east, such as hurricanes and natural disasters when they happen that way. This equipment has been crucial to that step."