04/14/2022 A relaxing weekend of camping and fishing did not go as planned
last Friday when a member of a California outdoors club fell and broke his hip.

The Old Goats Mountain Club (OGMC) had worked their way along an old Forest
Service Road into a rugged, off grid location in the foothills of the Cascade
Mountains. Dave Johnson, KL7DJ, said his friend slipped and fell while trying
reel in a catch. The injury was so severe that the man could not be moved
safely with a trip that could take at least 2 hours over the rough terrain.

Johnson is the only licensed amateur radio operator in the group and using the
California Amateur Linking Radio Association (CARLA)[1] system, he was able to
call for emergency help from this vehicle. Greg Stamback, KD6VEN, located in
the San Francisco Bay area responded and contacted the Shasta County EMS which
dispatched a REACH 5[2] rescue helicopter from their base in Redding,
California.

The entire rescue took about 1 hour and before the helicopter landed a local
ambulance company arrived and was able to stabilize the injured camper. After
surgery and 3 days in the hospital he is now at home recovering.

Johnson's wife Linda, KL7ISN, helped coordinate getting their friend's vehicle
back to Redding. Using pre-planned contact schedules for Friday and Saturday
and, after several makeshift auto-patches, the car was driven to a nearby
highway where two other club members were able to take the car safely back
home.

But the weekend was not over for amateur radio help. While the rest of the
group was making their way out of the mountains on Sunday they were flagged
down by a stranded motorist. His car's gas tank had been punctured and his cell
phone would not work. He was taken to a small community along the way where
there was a landline, and he was able to call for help from AAA.

Johnson said the motorist was thankful for the help and another member of the
OGMC suggested the motorist might want to consider getting an amateur radio
license.

While waiting for a tow truck to arrive, Johnson and a couple of OGMC members
talked about amateur radio and how it had helped over the last few days. One
member suggested maybe even he should have a transceiver installed in his
vehicle. Johnson plans to make sure his friend, and the motorist, get a
complete demonstration.

[1] http://www.carlaradio.net/thesystem/
[2] https://reachair.com/about-us/history/

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