by Gabriella Vukman
An injured hiker was rescued from the Dandenong Ranges National Park on Tuesday 1 October.
Victoria Police, SES and Ambulance Victoria units responded to the incident.
Emerald SES member Neil Fisher was one of the crew attended the scene.
“The Emerald unit were paged at 7.32pm to assist Victoria police in a search for a missing person in the Dandenong national park, in and around the Falls road Kalorama area,” he said.
“While we were responding,we got a note from police at 8.04pm saying that the person had been found and was in need of medical attention which then triggered a response from Ambulance Victoria.”
The Lilydale team also joined the Emerald SES team for additional support and arrived on the scene at approximately 8.30pm.
“The Lilydale crew worked with Ambulance Victoria to get the casualty out of the area where they were located,” Mr Fisher said.
“The Emerald crew identified that there were a few trip hazards along the pathway. Mostly fallen trees and put on their protective clothing and started chopping those trees to enable a less bumpy ride and also to remove those trip hazards. Other hazards in the area were leeches.”
Mr Fisher described the area as medium bushland.
“The intersection of Olinda Creek road and Barbers road, down the road from the Olinda falls picnic area which is part of the Dandenong Ranges national park,” he said.
“The casualty was unable to bear weight on one of their legs.”
The Emerald SES had the casualty in the back of the ambulance by 9.20pm, within 50 minutes of arriving at the scene.
“We would request that anyone walking in our national parks stay on marked trails,” Mr Fisher said.
“We are happy with the outcome and the care and dignity and respect they gave to the casualty.”
“As the SES commander on scene I am very thankful and grateful to the members that turned out both from Lilydale and emerald and the assistance that we could provide to Victoria Police and the ambulance service.”
