Injured Veterinarian Hiking with Dog Airlifted from National Forest

Veterinarian Valerie Caruso loves animals and hiking. She and her Dachshund-mix “Julia” were trekking alone on August 24th north of Long Lake in Plumas National Forest in northern California. Even though she brought drinking water, her dog was overheating in the midday heat. She thought a swim in the lake just off the trail would cool her off.

Caruso, 45, lowered Julia down to the lakeshore and then began her own descent. To her dismay her route down the steep incline sloped away and she became stuck with no choice but to drop more than six feet down. Caruso fell feet-first and landed with such excruciating pain that she knew at once that bones were broken.

As a medical practitioner, Caruso understands how critical response time is in an emergency. Realizing that, she recently purchased an ACR Electronics TerraFix™ 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). She wanted a PLB with built-in GPS. A big worry was the prevalence of rattlesnakes along the trails where she hikes alone.

Caruso assessed her situation as grave and manually activated her beacon at 4:10 p.m. She also blew her whistle and yelled for help. The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB received the SARSAT alert and notified the California Office of Emergency Services (OES). Since the beacon was registered to Caruso, authorities were able to confirm that she was indeed on an outdoors trip. At 4:55 p.m., OES gave Caruso’s location to the Plumas County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, and they launched a helicopter to search the area.

When Caruso first heard the helicopter at 5:10 p.m., she said it was one of the best sounds she had ever heard. She was in such a narrow spot that the helicopter could not directly lift her out. A rescuer had to repel down, secure her in a reclining basket carrier and signal the chopper to hoist her up. She was then transferred to a Mountain Life Flight helicopter and flown to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada for treatment.

After recuperating in a wheelchair on a leave of absence from her veterinarian practice Caruso said she’s grateful for the “fantastic response. ” When contacted a week following the incident at her home in Chico, CA, Caruso said, “I owe you [ACR Electronics] a wonderful favor. I have two broken ankles but, hey, I’m alive and very happy. It’s not a good idea to go into the backcountry without a PLB. The beacon is a wonderful thing that saves taxpayers money in the long run. Rescuers are able to go right to you. ”