LAKE LOUISE – STARS air ambulance flew a 40-year-old man in life-threatening condition after he fell into a crevasse while skiing on a remote glacier in Banff National Park on Thursday (April 18).
Parks Canada officials say Banff National Park dispatch received an emergency call from Icefall Lodge, located in a remote area near the Lyell Icefield on Thursday morning, and sent a rescue team.
"The call reported that a member of a guided backcountry skiing party had fallen into a crevasse near Christian Peak in Banff National Park near the border of Alberta and British Columbia," said James Eastham, a spokesperson for Lake Louise, Yoho, Kootenay field unit.
"Three Parks Canada visitor safety specialists responded by helicopter from Banff. Upon arrival, the skier had been extracted from the crevasse and First Aid was being administered," he added.
"The visitor safety specialists continued First Aid and transported the seriously injured skier to Lake Louise where they were transferred to STARS air ambulance."
Blake Robert, a communications officer for STARS, said the patient, a 40-year-old man, was suffering injuries “consistent with a fall in a mountainous area.”
STARS flew the man to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, he said.
"STARS was subsequently dispatched to a scene call emergency in the Lake Louise area this afternoon in response to a patient suffering injuries consistent with a fall in a mountainous area," said Robert.
Stuart Brideaux, public education officer for Alberta Health Services Emergency Medical Services, said EMS and STARS responded to the Lake Louise helipad to await arrival of a patient from Alpine Helicopters at about 11:50 a.m. Thursday.
"The patient had sustained a fall and required rescue from a crevasse. EMS and STARS assumed care of the adult in critical and life-threatening condition at Louise," said Brideaux. "They were subsequently flown to Foothills Medical Centre, still in critical condition."
