Skier injured at Deer Valley Resort transferred by Airmed helicopter

Photo: Park City Fire District // Facebook

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City Fire District responded to a report of a skier injured at Deer Valley Resort this afternoon, who was later transferred by helicopter for additional care.

According to a statement from the PCFD, Ambulance 38, Engine 38, Engine 34, and Back Country 3 responded to a report of an injured skier at approximately 11:45 a.m.

Members of the Deer Valley Resort ski patrol also provided medical assistance to the skier, who had been injured on the resort’s Bluebell ski run.

“We are keeping the guest in our thoughts and thank our local emergency responders for their assistance today,” said Emily Summers, senior communications manager at Deer Valley Resort.

The skier had sustained injuries to the thoracic area, chest area, and extremity fractures. Although the patient was initially reported to be in stable condition, after medics provided initial care and assessed the situation, the decision was made to transfer the skier by ambulance to Airmed crews at City Park.

“When they did the assessment on the patient, they decided the best option for the patient was to get them to the trauma center quickly was to fly them,” Michelle Anderson, a spokesperson for the PCFD, said. “So they landed at a city park which is one of our designated hot load zones. And so the helicopter landed there, the ambulance brought the patient down to the helicopter, and they transferred care there.”

City Park is a predesignated hot load landing zone where a pilot keeps a helicopter running in order to lift off immediately after a patient has been placed in the aircraft.

“Park City Fire District began a hot load program almost three years ago with Airmed. The goal of the program is to reduce scene times for critical patients,” said a statement from the PCFD. “In the past, PCFD crews would wait for Airmed to arrive on scene; this would sometimes delay transport to a trauma one center. PCFD has four designated landing zones in the Park City Area and four designated landing zones in the North and South Summit areas that are along the route the ambulances travel to a trauma one center.”

According to a statement from the PCFD, average on-scene times have gone from 20 minutes to 6 minutes, thanks to the hot load program.