CBP Helicopter Crew, Border Patrol Rescue Injured Immigrant South of Sierra Blanca
A Customs and Border Protection helicopter crew and local Border Patrol agents made what was likely a life-saving intervention Monday morning (March 16), after they discovered a seriously injured immigrant in mountainous country southeast of Sierra Blanca.
According to a Border Patrol press release, the incident began just before dawn Monday, at about 7 a.m. Agents from the Alpine branch of the CBP’s Office of Air and Marine were conducting a routine helicopter night patrol near the Indio Mountains, in the remote southeastern corner of Hudspeth County, when they spotted a campfire in a canyon. As they investigated the scene, agents discovered that there was a severely injured man at the base of a 40-foot cliff. Another man was caring for him, the Border Patrol said. The two had entered the country illegally, the Border Patrol said.
A quick assessment determined that the man was suffering from broken bones and possibly internal injuries, and with the man’s life was in jeopardy, the pilot left his crew member behind to render aid, the Border Patrol said.
The pilot flew to the Sierra Blanca Border Patrol station – and, in a little more than an hour, returned to the scene with a Border Patrol EMT.
The helicopter-based response likely saved the man’s life, the Border Patrol said. Given the remote location, it would likely have taken several hours to transport the injured man by truck to an EMT.
The Border Patrol EMT had the man stabilized and ready for transport by about 9:40 a.m., the Border Patrol said. The aircrew transported the man to the Sierra Blanca Border Patrol Station, where he was picked up by an air ambulance and transported to University Medical Center in El Paso for treatment. He is expected to survive.
Officials with the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector said the rescue was a testament to the skills of CBP aircrews.
“We depend on the Office of Air and Marine,” Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent John J. Smietana Jr. said in a release. “OAM’s professionalism and quick response capabilities are critical to the safety of our agents, and sometimes others, as well as the law enforcement support they provide.”