A multi-agency rescue team used a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter on Friday morning to evacuate a boater in medical distress from a remote section of the Rio Grande in Brewster County, Texas.
Brewster County Dispatch first received an emergency satellite text from a Garmin device on Thursday evening. It said eight people on a river trip needed help in the county's southeastern backcountry. The Brewster County Sheriff's Office said the site cannot be reached by road and severe weather grounded air assets overnight, so crews could not immediately reach the group. The party messaged dispatchers that it had set up camp and would wait out the storm safely.
Early Friday, Sheriff Ronny Dodson received an updated message reporting that one person was in medical distress. Dodson and dispatchers coordinated an air rescue with a Blackhawk crew, military rescue personnel and flight paramedics, with logistical support from the U.S. Border Patrol. The person was hoisted from the canyon and flown to Alpine for medical evaluation. The other seven members of the group chose to continue down the river.