Rescue in Voyageurs National Park puts new Minnesota State Patrol helicopter to the test
WCCO, MN DPS, CNN
By WCCO Staff
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Minnesota (WCCO) — A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, unveiled just last month, is being put to the test.
New video shows the Minnesota Air Rescue Team (MART) responding to a call for help from a remote campsite in Voyageurs National Park along the Canadian border on Aug. 11.
The three-man team, made up of two members of the St. Paul Fire Department and a pilot from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, hoisted a woman experiencing a medical emergency to safety.
“It was kind of like the capstone to all the training we’ve been doing over the last several months,” said Robert Gregor, a rescue specialist with MART.
Gregor has spent a decade with MART. In the video, he’s lowered down toward the woman on a cable.
“The efficiency that we get with the new hoist capabilities that we have on the team, it’s almost immeasurable,” Gregor said.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety describes the technology as “a side-mounted hoist system that lets rescue crews lift people directly into the cabin.”
The crew says this new capability has changed the way they approach rescues.
“In rescues past years, we would have had to go find a landing zone suitable to put the helicopter on the ground and do some further rigging of our rescue equipment,” said Jeremy Barta, a systems operator who was inside the chopper during the rescue. “Especially in areas like the Boundary Waters, Voyageurs National Forest and a lot of rural northern Minnesota, that’s very difficult to find suitable landing zones.”
Barta says now, the team doesn’t need to stop, land and prepare. Instead, the crew can move right into hoisting the person in need once they arrive.
“When seconds matter, we saved minutes,” said Gregor.
Back in July, the helicopter made its first rescue, flying to Le Sueur County. The Department of Public Safety says a vulnerable man was lost in a cornfield.
The Minnesota Legislature approved over $14 million in funding for the helicopter back in 2023.
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