Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue assist injured snowmobile rider at Elk Lake Resort

Released by: Deputy Shane Zook, Assistant Search and Rescue Coordinator

Released Date: 02/04/2023

Location: Elk Lake Resort

Person Assisted: 44 year old female, Corvallis, Or.

On 02-04-23 at about 12:50 PM, Deschutes County Dispatch received a call regarding an injured snowmobile rider at Elk Lake Resort.  The injured rider was a 44 year old female from Corvallis, Oregon.  The injured rider had been taken to the Elk Lake Lodge, where staff at the lodge notified dispatch.

There happened to be a team of four search and rescue volunteers training on snowmobiles near Mt. Bachelor.  That team was directed by a Special Services Deputy to head to the Elk Lake Lodge.  Two members of that team are also part of the search and rescue medical team.  The first team arrived and made contact with the rider at 1:40 PM.  They began assessing the rider’s condition and trying to keep her comfortable until she could be transported.

At 1:13 PM, the deputy had also paged out additional volunteers to respond to Elk Lake Resort with an additional snowmobile, towing the snow ambulance which would transport the injured rider back to Dutchman Flat Snow Park.  The second team arrived at Elk Lake Lodge at about 3:00 PM.

The rider was loaded into the snow ambulance with a medical attendant and transported back to the Dutchman Flat Snow Park, where Bend Fire and Rescue were waiting with a ambulance to transport the rider to St. Charles Medical Center for further treatment.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with five K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves over 200,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 259 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 191 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.