Lake County Sheriff’s deputies and personnel from the North Shore Fire Protection District responded to a frantic 911 call from a neighbor in the 6200 block of Roland Dr. in Lucerne, CA.

On arrival, they located a teen that was stuck at the top of a 60-foot cliff, known as “Castle Rock.” The teen had been there for about two hours and was unable to make it down safely since night had fallen, which made the situation more perilous. Ground-based rescue efforts would have been time consuming, requiring additional rescue crews and tied up those resources for an extended period.

The Henry-1 crew responded to the area and rescued the teen using a horse collar device. The teen was then flown to fire crew members who were waiting on the ground. He was uninjured.

The victim was later identified as 19-year-old Jerry Michael King of Lucerne, CA. He had apparently climbed the rock before sundown but found it too dangerous to descend, especially once it got dark.  He had been on top of the rock for about two hours.

Henry-1 is equipped with state-of-the-art night vision goggles and a 50-million candle-power Night Sun spotlight. This equipment, plus regular night time rescue training, enables the Henry-1 crew to be available to perform these nighttime long-line rescues.

On 11/6/2010 at 1:16 PM the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a plane crash in the area 21877 8th Street East in Sonoma.  Officers from the Sonoma Police Department and deputies from Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene along with Fire and EMS personnel from Schell Vista Fire Department.

They located the single engine Qualt aircraft in a grassy area approximately 30 feet wide that runs the length of a 200 ft. long warehouse.  The plane was between a series of warehouse buildings along 21877 Schellville Road.

The plane was occupied by two males suffering from moderate injuries and obvious lacerations. Schell Vista Fire personnel extricated the two occupants from the plane and they were airlifted to separate bay area hospitals for their injuries. The pilot was airlifted to Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa by Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter Henry-1 and the passenger was airlifted to John Muir Medical Hospital in Oakland by REACH.

On scene damage to the plane indicates the plane impacted the ground nose first, and also damaging a cyclone fence. There was no structural damage to any buildings.

The plane had just taken off from Sonoma Skypark Airport and witnesses described the engine noise as being under low power.  The plane crashed almost immediately after take off. It cleared the runway, crossed over 8th Street East and crashed in the industrial park west of the roadway.

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) were notified to investigate as is required in all incidents involving aircraft.  The names of the pilot and passenger are not being released until authorized by the NTSB.

On Wednesday November 3^rd, at about 4pm, Bodega Bay Fire Department, State Park Rangers, the U.S. Coast Guard and “Henry-1,” the Sheriff’s rescue helicopter, were dispatched to the Bodega Head for a rescue.

An Omaha, Nebraska man in his mid-twenties had been walking on the beach below and was eventually cut off from returning due to the incoming waves.  He then attempted to scale up the steep western-most face of the cliff from the bottom.  He became stranded about 40-feet up the cliff, with another60-feet yet to go.

The Henry-1 crew arrived at about 4:11pm, set up for a long-line rescue, flew out and retrieved the victim without incident. He was uninjured but relieved.

The Henry-1 crew routinely trains for this exact type of rescue along the Sonoma Coast. A Henry-1 long-line rescue consists of a well-trained Henry-1 crew-member being harnessed onto a 100-foot long-line attached to the bottom of the helicopter. The pilot, in this case, 9-year veteran with Henry-1; Pilot Paul Bradley, then flies the rescuer out to the person in distress. The rescuer places the victim in a rescue “strop” and the two of them are flown back to safety.

Other means of rescuing this subject, which ground rescue crews are well-trained for in case Henry-1 is unavailable, are much more time-consuming, labor-intensive, require additional manpower and resources and tie up rescue crews for an extended periods of time.  A “Henry-1-style rescue” like the one just performed at Bodega Head, is generally completed in less than one minute’s time from set-up.

On 10-29-10 at about 5:06 PM, the Sheriff’s Helicopter “Henry-1″ was requested by State Park Lifeguards for a rescue at Gerstle Cove. Two fishermen had become stranded on a small rock by the incoming tide and large waves and were unable to make it back to shore.

The Henry-1 crew arrived about eight minutes later and set up for a long-line rescue.  Both men, one from San Francisco and the other from Daly City, were licensed fishermen. They were each rescued via long-line without incident. Neither reported any injuries.

On 10/21/2010 at approximately 12:44 PM, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Helicopter “Henry 1″ was dispatched to a possible rescue in the area of Memorial Beach, Healdsburg. It was originally reported as a female kayaker stranded on a rock downstream from Memorial Beach after being ejected from her tandem kayak. Her kayak partner was able to swim to shore.

The Sheriff’s Helicopter Unit responded along with Healdsburg Fire Dept., Windsor Fire Dept., and the Sheriff’s Boating Unit.  The Henry-1 crew arrived on scene and located a female stranded on a rock in the middle of the Russian River just north of the Hwy 101 bridge. After assessing the scene it was determined that, due to the rushing water on both sides of the victim, a “long line” rescue would be the safest and most expedient method of moving the victim out of danger and over to safe shores.

Sheriff’s Pilot Paul Bradley then flew Tactical Flight Officer Debbie Little to the victim via 100-foot long-line attached to the bottom of the helicopter. TFO Little then placed the victim into a rescue ”horse collar” and they were both flown securely to shore.  The victim was turned over to Healdsburg Fire personnel to be medically cleared. The victim, age 65 of Cotati, suffered no injuries.

The Henry-1 crew routinely trains and practices these very rescue scenarios along with local public safety agencies to ensure the highest standard of professional, efficient and safe life-saving rescue measures possible. This afternoon’s rescue evolution in Healdsburg, from spotting the victim in the Russian River to her rescue, took only six minutes.

On Tuesday 9-7-10 at about 11:07 am, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office rescue helicopter, “Henry-1,” was requested to assist in a medical rescue at the Doran Beach Jetty Campground in Bodega Bay.  A 44-year-old Santa Rosa woman, who had been whale watching at the far end of the uneven, saw-toothed, rock jetty, had fallen and required a backboard evacuation from the jetty at high-tide.  Members of the Station Bodega Bay US Coast Guard, State Parks rangers and Bodega Bay Fire Department all responded to the scene along with Henry-1 and a 25-foot USCG boat.

Once on scene, the crew of Henry-1 coordinated with the rescue personnel on the ground.  Two trained rescue crewmembers from Henry-1 were then brought onto the scene via a 100-foot long-line to effect the evacuation. The patient was loaded onto a stokes-litter and air-lifted via long-line to awaiting paramedics on shore. The patient was then transported via ambulance to the hospital for further treatment.

For more information, photos and video of this incident, please see the USCG- Station Bodega Bay’s press release at;http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/823/894035/

On 8-1-10 at about 3:38 PM, rescue crews were dispatched to Lake Sonoma for a jet-skier who crashed his personal water craft onto the shore across the Warm Springs Arm from Madrone Point.  The Sheriff’s Helicopter “Henry-1″ responded along with the Sheriff’s Boating Unit, Geyserville Fire Dept., Army Corps Rangers and REACH.

The crew of Henry-1 located the patient along the shoreline being tended to by boaters who witnessed the solo accident. Since there was absolutely no vehicular access to this area, the helicopter crew long-lined into the area to extract the patient. The helicopter crew and deputies from the Sheriff’s boating unit packaged the patient who was then flown via long-line to a nearby landing zone.

The patient, a 66-year-old male, suffered broken bones and was flown by REACH to a local hospital. The accident, which does not appear to be alcohol related, is being investigated by the Sheriff’s boating unit.

On 7-2-10 at about 4:57 PM, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Helicopter, “Henry-1″ was called to Schooner Gulch Beach in Point Arena for an ocean rescue.  A windsurfer was reported to be in distress. The Henry-1 crew responded along with local fire and rescue crews. Henry-1 arrived in the area within 20 minutes. The helicopter crew first located the windsurfer’s yellow board floating a few hundred yards off shore. The sail had been separated from the board and was located about a half-mile to the north of the board. The Henry-1 crew then located the windsurfer standing on a small swath of beach at the base of a 70-foot cliff, cut off from view from the bluff above. He was holding two sticks over his head in an “X” fashion, indicating some sort of distress.

The Henry-1 crew set up for a long-line rescue where the pilot, Paul Bradley, flew the flight paramedic, Scott Freedman, via 100-foot long-line attached to the belly of the helicopter to the patient at the base of the cliff.  The medic and the patient were then flown via the long-line to safety atop the bluff.

The windsurfer, a 51-year-old man from Boonville, CA, cramped up after being in the cold water for an extended period and was unable to make it to shore with his windsurf board.  He was finally able to drift onto the small beach at the base of the cliff but was unable to scale up to safety.  He was assessed by local medical crews on the ground. He showed some signs of dehydration but was later released at the scene.

On 5-27-10 at about 1:20 PM, the Sheriff’s Rescue Helicopter unit “Henry-1″ was dispatched to a vehicle over the cliff in the 20000 block of Oyster Catcher Loop in Bodega Bay.  A 62-year-old Bodega Bay woman accidentally backed her SUV off the roadway, down a hill and into a ravine toward the ocean in that area.

The Henry-1 crew arrived at about 12 minutes later along with Bodega Bay Fire members.  The vehicle was about 250 yards off the roadway and nosed down into a ravine.  The woman was extricated from the vehicle by the Bodega Bay Fire crew. Given the location on the cliff and the serious nature of the patient’s injuries, the Henry-1 rescue crew long-lined the woman from the crash site on the cliff to the bluff via 100-foot long-line attached to the bottom of the helicopter.  The Henry-1 crew then reconfigured the helicopter for medical transport and transported the woman to a Santa Rosa area hospital.