CUSTER, S.D. – The Custer County Sheriff’s Office and Custer County Search and Rescue were paged to a report of an injured hiker Wednesday night.
According to a release, authorities responded to the injured hiker near the base of some rocks behind the beach at Legion Lake in Custer State Park. The hiker was reported to have fallen while climbing on the rocks and was unable to walk.
Due to the steep terrain the patient was loaded into a litter basket secured with ropes and then guided downhill to the trail along the lake, where she could be moved to the ambulance. She was talking with responders during the rescue.
Custer County Search and Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office says this was their first call using new Yamaha UTVs recently put into service.
“With their shorter wheelbase and ability to transport four people and their gear, or to haul our litter with a patient, for our purposes these will be a nice improvement over the Can-Ams previously used, which are being retired after years of service.”
