Above: Emergency crews assist the BFD Rope Rescue Team at the Jamestown Crag on Tuesday, after a climber fell over 40 feet. Image: Batesville Fire Department social media
Just days after responding to its first incident, the Batesville Fire Department (BFD) Rope Rescue Team responded Tuesday to another accident in the county — this time at the Jamestown Crag.
According to a release from the BFD, volunteer fire departments requested the rope team after responding to a report of a climber who was incapacitated from injuries after falling from a cliff.
The team was able to set up a system to successfully lower a Stokes basket for the patient and hoist the climber back up the 75 to 80-foot cliff. A waiting side-by-side from the Independence County Office of Emergency Management then transported the patient to a waiting ambulance.
The Batesville Fire Department credited the Rope Rescue Team for its work during the incident, along with the Desha Volunteer Fire Department, Vital Link EMS, Survival Flight, the Independence County Sheriff’s Department, Independence County Office of Emergency Management, Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery, and a local sports and recreation group, the NOMADS.
On the Jamestown Crag social media page, the NOMADS noted the climber fell over 40 feet from the top anchors of the “Game Wall.” The group said the climber received no broken bones and was released from the hospital.
According to the Jamestown Crag website, the location is “…northeast Arkansas’s only sport climbing crag, with over 100 climbing routes bolted on Arkansas sandstone.”
Have a news tip or event to promote? Email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget to download the White River Now mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Get up-to-date local and regional news/weather every weekday morning and afternoon from the First Community Bank Newsroom on Arkansas 103.3 KWOZ. White River Now updates are also aired weekday mornings on 93 KZLE, Outlaw 106.5, and Your FM 99.5.
