A woman is stable after receiving a head injury near the Wigwam Road.
The Fernie Search and Rescue (SAR) was activated by the RCMP on July 29 at 3:45 p.m. after the RCMP received a distress call activated via SPOT beacon, pinpointing a location near the Wigwam Road.
Since the distress call suggested a head injury, Fernie SAR responded with two first responders via helicopter to the location.
According to a Fernie SAR press release, when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they found that a 59-year-old woman from England was found to have fallen from her bicycle, sustaining a “significant head injury, loss of consciousness and severe resulting nausea” and it was her husband who activated the SPOT.
The couple was in the process of negotiating the Tour Divide route from Banff to Antelope Wells, New Mexico.
Fernie SAR stabilized the women and transported her back to the helicopter and back to Fernie, where the British Columbia Ambulance Service took her to the Elk Valley Hospital, and then on to Cranbrook Hospital for further assessment.
SAR Manager Rob Lanthier said the couple was fortunate to have the SPOT device with them at the time of the accident.
“The fact that this couple had a satellite emergency response beacon made a big difference to the speed of our response. That area has no cell coverage, so summoning help would have been a major challenge had they not had this device."