Roanoke County Fire and Rescue received a call for service on Tuesday at approximately 4:45 p.m. for a male in his 60’s who was experiencing chest pains while hiking the Dragon’s Tooth trail with a friend. The couple was a little over a mile from the trailhead at the parking lot off of Route 311.
The first medic unit from Catawba Station #4 immediately accessed the trail upon their arrival at the parking lot. Other crews from Masons Cove, Hollins, Clearbrook, Salem Fire and EMS, and the Operational Medical Director for Roanoke County Fire and Rescue, also responded to assist with getting the patient off the trail.
As the patient was being assisted back down the mountain by the rescue crews, he went into cardiac arrest. CPR was started immediately while on the trail and advanced life support measures were administered, resulting in the return of a pulse and breathing before the patient was extricated off the trail around 7:10 p.m.
The patient was then transported via ambulance to rendezvous at a nearby landing zone with a Carilion Lifeguard helicopter which took him to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
