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A 20-year-old Salzburg woman fell around ten meters on the 2,607 meter high high altitude on Sunday afternoon. She was badly injured and her life was in danger. Because of the foehn storm, no helicopter crew could approach. Mountain rescuers went out on foot.
The huge mountain west of the Watzmann in the Berchtesgaden Alps is 2,607 meters high. The accident happened at around 2,300 meters above sea level. When the emergency call came in at around 1 p.m., the crew of the alarmed Salzburg emergency doctor’s helicopter “Christophorus 6” tried to fly to the scene of the accident.
Air transport halfway up
Because of the foehn storm and gusts of more than 100 kilometers per hour, the Salzburg pilot had no chance of a stable approach. However, he was able to gradually fly seven mountain rescuers and an ambulance at least at an altitude of 1,350 meters, where it was not so stormy.
Alpinist repeatedly passed out
While the dying helpers made their way up from there, descending mountaineers reported that the young woman was in poor condition and had repeatedly lost consciousness. Afterwards, they helped the mountain rescue team to transport the equipment to the accident site. At around 3:45 p.m., the rescuers finally reached the addressable woman again.
It is not yet known whether or not other climbers stayed with the woman until the team arrived. In the event of impending unconsciousness with a risk of suffocation or cardiac arrest, this would be urgently necessary in order to carry out cardiac massage and police officers if necessary.
Own radio relay station set up
While the 20-year-old was receiving medical care, other mountain rescuers set up a VHF radio gateway or a relay station in the valley, as otherwise no connection to the other emergency services would have been possible in the deeply cut Ofental valley. The feared arduous transport into the valley by stretcher could be prevented. This would inevitably have put additional hardship on the seriously injured person.
The patient flown to the Salzburg UKH
At around 4.30 p.m., the team from the police helicopter from Munich finally managed to drop an emergency doctor and paramedic at the now locally windless accident site and shortly afterwards to pick up the woman on a second approach.
The mountaineer was brought to the Salzburg accident hospital. The mountain rescuers could later be flown out during their descent and before dark.