ST. GEORGE — A woman walking along a ridgeline overlooking the Bloomington Wal-Mart lost her balance and fell off a cliff Thursday. Customers at the store heard her cries for help and called emergency responders.
At about 5 p.m. emergency responders received a page on what was originally reported as a male that fell off the cliff, St. George Fire Battalion Chief Robert J. Hooper said. Upon arrival, rescue crews discovered a woman who had fallen approximately 15 to 20 feet.
“She did have a laceration to her head,” Hooper said, “and she had been there for some time. Apparently she was yelling for help — she didn’t have a cell phone with her — and down below at Wal-Mart they actually heard and that’s where they called in from.”
The woman was traversing up the ridge when she came to a fence that ran close to the edge of the cliff. When she tried to squeeze by the fence, she fell, he said. The woman’s head injuries were substantial enough to possibly require stitches, and anytime emergency responders encounter wounds of that nature, they worry about internal bleeding or internal head injuries.
However, after spending some time with her during the rescue, he said, nothing worrisome was observed.
Despite the injury to her head, the woman did not want to go to the hospital and mostly needed assistance getting back up to the ridge, Hooper said. The rescue team placed the woman in a Stokes basket, carried her to the rim and released her.
With the incident in mind, Hooper asked that the public be mindful of hiking in the soaring temperatures of Southern Utah.
“She was fortunate enough to be in the shade,” he said. “If she had been in the sun, she might have had some heat exhaustion or possible heat stroke from just being out in these temperatures. So we do ask people to kind of be careful out here, especially in these hot afternoons early this summer.”
Read more: Heat can kill, getting lost can be fatal; how to survive the heat, be found when you’re lost or in distress
The St. George Fire Department sent two fire engines, a squad truck and approximately 12 personnel. St. George Police Department and Gold Cross Ambulance also responded.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
A woman who fell off a cliff above the Bloomington Wal-Mart was rescued by a team from the St. George Fire Department, St. George, Utah, June 2, 2016 | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News A woman who fell down a cliff above the Bloomington Wal-Mart was rescued by a team from the St. George Fire Department, St. George, Utah, June 2, 2016 | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News A woman who fell off a cliff above the Bloomington Wal-Mart was rescued by a team from the St. George Fire Department, St. George, Utah, June 2, 2016 | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News A woman who fell off a cliff above the Bloomington Wal-Mart was rescued by a team from the St. George Fire Department, St. George, Utah, June 2, 2016 | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News The Bloomington Wal-Mart where customers heard cries of help from a woman trapped on cliffs above the store, St. George, Utah, June 2, 2016 | Photo by Don Gilman, St. George News
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
Wake up people it’s summer and take the proper way to hike in the heat and rough terrain