Editor,

This letter is this to recognize and thank the absolutely marvelous Deception Pass State Park rangers, Whidbey Health EMS and North Whidbey Fire and Rescue.

On Nov. 26, my husband and I had hiked to Goose Rock’s East Summit in the late afternoon. We had planned to hike to West Summit, then hike down to our car by sunset. We had just been commenting on how slippery the slanting bedrock was due to very short grass and moss. Then I slipped and fell down hard on my left hip at about 3:30 p.m.

We weren’t able to get me up despite trying off and on for about 30 minutes. It’s just as well though, as things turned out.

We called Deception Pass State Park’s ranger on duty, then 911. Within approximately 20 minutes, park ranger Nathan Anderson rode his mountain bike up the steepish-in-places trail just before sunset. He confirmed our vehicle type and color, kept us company and continued coordinating rescue efforts such as advising which trail was best and how to get to me. Later he would come back up in complete darkness.

The WhidbeyHealth EMS team arrived first. They were medic U Pinon and EMT Jo Pavlock. They did what they could to make me more comfortable, such as shifting me carefully so I could sit with my back against the split rail fence. They suspected I had broken my hip. They also talked to me and my husband to help pass the time and to distract me I expect.

Later, North Whidbey Fire and Rescue team members arrived carrying a Stokes rolling rescue basket stretcher. Team members Jim Zimmerman, Chad Bowman, Clinton Brown, Dylan Van Rusem, Bill Chemain, Mike Pelzer, A.J. Jennings, Dave Hanson, Bryan Fick and Caleb Moore did a truly masterful job of transferring me to the stretcher, then rolling me/carrying me down the hill to the highway to the waiting ambulance. They did it in such a way to as much as possible reduce the pain for me. Remember, this is in the dark. The full moon did not reach into the forest.

At the highway, traffic was stopped to let the group safely across to the ambulance. Mr. Pinon drove the ambulance again as smoothly as possible to Island Health since that was the closest hospital while Ms. Pavlock piled blankets on me. In addition to my probably broken hip, I also had borderline hypothermia.

It had been an evening of many firsts for this 78-year-old lady: the first time two EMTs had to hike up a little mountain trail in the dark, the first time a stretcher crew had to hike up a trail at night to get me, the first time to get carried-rolled down from Goose Rock at night, my first time in an ambulance.

Truly the above named lady and gentlemen deserve immense gratitude for their services to me, and to everyone in this area.

Yes, my hip was broken. I had full replacement hip surgery that night.

Susan McClung

Oak Harbor