CLEVELAND — White County Mountain Rescue personnel assisted Towns County officials on Wednesday with an incident involving an injured person on the Appalachian Trail.
According to White County Public Safety Director David Murphy, Towns County requested the help around 7 p.m. Personnel responded to Unicoi Gap on Ga. 75 north of Helen. The injured individual was located between Unicoi Gap and Blue Mountain.
Murphy said Helen Fire Department's ATV was requested because Towns County was having issues with their ATV.
Once the patient was located and packaged, Murphy said responders escorted the patient out to the awaiting Towns County med unit.
White County firefighters terminated the call just after midnight.
The patient, according to Murphy, had non-life-threatening injuries.
This call was the second mountain rescue for White County personnel in as many days.
About 5 p.m. Tuesday, White County E-9-1-1 received a call via an agent from Spot Gen 3 (satellite GPS company) advising they had a lost hiker on the Tesnatee Gap Trailhead at Cow Rock Mountain in White County, according to Murphy.
Murphy said participating rescuers were from White County Fire Services, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, White County Emergency Medical Services and Lumpkin County Fire. Three teams hiked in about 35 minutes on the snowy/icy trail.
The hiker was from Rhode Island and was an avid hiker, but the snowy conditions covered the trail and she lost her way, according to Murphy. The unidentified hiker, who was not injured, was glad to be found because it was 24 degrees, with 12- to 15-mph winds, and the sun was going down.
