Tennessee Guardsmen rescue visitor in National Park

LOUISVILLE, Tenn. - On Wednesday afternoon, April 1, a flight crew with the Tennessee Army National Guard's 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion rescued a park visitor suffering from cardiac arrest in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Shortly after 2:40 p.m., Eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified of a park visitor having a medical emergency in need of immediate assistance and rapid transport to a nearby hospital. The visitor was located near Dillons Gap along Kuwohi Road, which parallels the Appalachian Trail, in a remote area of the park southeast of Gatlinburg, along the North Carolina border.  

Once TEMA was notified of the possible mission, Tennessee National Guardsmen assigned to Task Force Smokey assembled a flight crew and readied a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for flight. As soon as the mission was approved, the aircraft departed Joint Base McGhee-Tyson at approximately 3:10 p.m., flying directly to the rescue site.

In roughly 15 minutes, the aircraft arrived at Dillons Gap and the Tennessee National Guard flight crew, which consisted of two pilots, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian Spotts and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andres Salas, the crew chief, Sgt. Gabriel Weston, and two flight paramedics, Sgt. 1st Class Giovanni DeZuani and John Sharbel, began rescue operations.

Once the patient and rescue crew were located, the aircraft landed at the Dillons Gap parking lot along Kuwohi Road. Both flight paramedics exited the aircraft, and with the help of local Emergency Medical Services, transferred the patient from the EMS ambulance currently caring for the patient to the aircraft. Once transferred and the patient was safe on board, the aircraft flew to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville while first aid continued throughout the flight.

At approximately 3:55 p.m., the aircraft landed at the medical center where medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room. Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, the aircraft returned to Louisville and landed just after 4:20 p.m.