Medical, emergency and rail personnel work together to transfer patient from landslide

IT took planes, trains and automobiles to transfer a seriously injured patient from Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope. The patient urgently needed a higher level of care.

With access severed by landslides and  floodwaters,  and high winds affecting air transport,  two critical care physicians  and a respiratory therapist from Surrey Memorial Hospital packed supplies and medication and drove to the Fraser Valley on Monday.

They were joined by an emergency physician from Fraser Canyon Hospital, who met them in Abbotsford. The group gathered additional medication to support the Fraser Canyon Hospital and long-term care residents in the Hope area.

First responders escorted the group on back roads, where they met up with CN Rail staff in Chilliwack.

The mini-ICU team then boarded a CN track vehicle, with CN driving slowly along rail lines with debris alongside.

The medical team at Fraser Canyon Hospital stabilized the patient but knew they needed a higher level of care and transport as soon as possible. The two physicians and respiratory therapist from Surrey were able to support the medical team at the hospital until an air ambulance arrived early Tuesday.

The patient was flown by air ambulance to a Lower Mainland hospital and is stable.

Fraser Health thanks everyone who made this transfer possible, including first responders, CN Rail employees, and BC Emergency Health Services.