It took about eight hours Friday to free a woman who fell 40 to 50 feet from the top of a White County waterfall.
The woman, who is not being identified by rescuers, fell from Raven Cliffs Falls and became lodged in a narrow area where the rock faces of the falls come together about 100 feet from the bottom, said White County Fire and EMA Battalion Chief Josh Taylor.
White County Fire Services personnel responded to the incident about 5:20 Friday afternoon, reaching the patient 90 minutes later.
Ultimately, it took rescuers from 19 agencies across North Georgia working in a coordinated effort to retrieve the woman, who was not seriously injured.
Georgia State Patrol Aviation lowered two members from Cobb County’s Georgia Search & Rescue (GSAR) team in to assist rescuers. Members from Gainesville Fire Department’s GSAR Task Force 1 team and Rabun County Technical Rescue Team also responded to the scene to assist due to the dangerous terrain and extreme technicality of the call, Taylor said.
Rescue personnel worked tirelessly on freeing the lodged patient throughout the evening, Taylor said. The patient was freed from the rock crevice at 11:16 p.m. She was lifted to the top of the falls by rope personnel at 11:42 and was evaluated by EMS personnel.
Taylor said the patient appeared to have only received minor injuries and was able to walk, assisted by rescues, off the falls and down the trail area.
She was removed from the trail area at 1:34 a.m. and further evaluated and transported by White County EMS.
Rescue crews remained on the scene until approximately 3:30 a.m. cleaning up rescue supplies and getting all personnel and equipment off of the mountain.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy credited the following agencies for their work, resulting in the best possible outcome for the victim and rescuers:
- White County 9-1-1
- White County Fire
- White County Emergency Medical Services
- White County Emergency Management Agency
- White County Community Emergency Response Team
- White County Sheriff’s Office
- Helen Fire Department
- Hall County EMA
- Clarke County EMA
- Rabun County EMA Technical Rescue Team
- Cobb County TRT
- Gainesville Fire Department Georgia Search & Rescue Task Force
- GSAR 6 Team - Northwest Georgia
- Georgia Emergency Management Agency
- Georgia State Patrol Aviation
- U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement
- Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement
- Northeast Georgia Medical Center Trauma Team
- Life Force 14
And, Murphy thanked Walmart in Cleveland for providing food for the rescuers during the lengthy operation.
