Justin de Ruyter, Spokane Fire PIO, jderuyter@spokanecity.org
Monday, August 7, 2023 at 8:54 a.m.
On Saturday, August 5, 2023, at approximately noon, the Spokane Fire Department (SFD) were dispatched to a report of a male experiencing a medical emergency on the south bank of the Spokane River under the Monroe Street bridge. Units arrived to find the male patient approximately halfway down the bank with minor injuries and no memory of how he had gotten there. Due to the steep incline and unstable footing below the bridge, which made access unsafe, the SFD Technical Rescue Team (TRT) was deployed. On their arrival, the team rapidly assessed the situation and rigged a rope system to lower SFD personnel to the patient to stabilize the patient. Once stabilized, the patient was secured in a Stokes basket and lowered the rest of the way to level ground in the area of Huntington Park, where AMR then transported him to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
The SFD Technical Rescue Team is a highly trained group of firefighters specializing in complex rescues. The team can be called around the region in response to high-angle rope rescues, confined space rescues, excavation trench collapses, building collapses, and any other complicated entrapments requiring specialized tools. Our TRT works together with other teams in Spokane County.
