De Soto Rural Fire personnel helped with a difficult rescue Saturday afternoon, after a man suffered a medical emergency while rock climbing on a bluff along the Big River in St. Francois County, said John Scullin, a lieutenant with the fire district.
The 37-year-old St. Louis man was taken by boat to the Jefferson County side of the river and transported to an area hospital with a life-threatening medical condition, Scullin said.
He said today (July 27), he did not know the man’s condition.
To get the man to medical care was an adventure, Scullin said.
“It was a challenging technical rescue at Robinson Bluff (a rock-climbing business) along the Big River,” he said. “We were called in to assist when a (climber) had a medical condition while climbing and had to be taken (off) the bluff.”
The Big River Fire Protection District and the St. Francois County Ambulance District were the primary agencies at the rescue site, but De Soto Rural was called to assist because it was difficult to reach the bank of the river at the bottom of the bluff and bring the man down, Scullin said.
“It happened a little before 2 p.m.,” he said. “We arrived from the Jefferson County side of the river from Dickinson Road. (The patient) had to be brought down the bluff and put into a boat to get to an ambulance.
“Big River Fire and St. Francois County Ambulance brought him down to the river and gave him to us. We put him on the boat and brought him across on our side.
“Then, we brought him up the bank, through the trees and to the ambulance.”
Valle Ambulance transported him to the hospital, Scullin said.
He said a neighboring homeowner also helped with the rescue by using his own johnboat and cutting brush to help get the stricken man to emergency care.
Scullin said emergency responders worked together to overcome a variety of hurdles to rescue the man.
“We improvised,” he said. “We used every resource we had.”