Noticeably colder than normal temperatures came early to Wisconsin, making it a rough night for a 59 year old woman who lost her way while hiking in the Baxter Hollow Preserve in the Town of Sumpter, Sauk County on Saturday, October 10. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP), called into action by the Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM) early Sunday morning (October 11), found the woman alive.

The 36 members of CAP knew their mission was urgent to find this unfortunate woman as the temperatures had dipped down into the mid-20’s during the night. She was not properly dressed for such low temperatures, nor did she have any food or water with her.

However, the hiker had her working cell phone with her and had alerted the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department at approximately 7:40pm Saturday evening that she had become lost and needed assistance. Other county sheriff’s departments were called in along with a canine unit and firefighters to help search for the lost woman until approximately 3:30am when all searchers were called in from the wooded area.

By this time, WEM had contacted CAP to ask for their assistance in the search. Here is where 29 ground team members, one CAP aircraft with a two man crew, and the Mobile Command Center with its five mission base staff members, sprang into action.

According to Lt Col Peter Fabian, the incident commander for this search and rescue, “The hilly terrain with choked vegetation made the search physically demanding with limited visibility.” He further stated “it also complicated GPS and radio use with a heavy canopy overhead.” The significant iron deposits in the hills complicated matters as well as it affected compass readings that the ground team used.

In spite of the obstacles, these ground teams were well trained and used their whistles to alert the lost woman of her coming rescuers. She had heard the whistles long before she heard their voices. Once again her cell phone had played a crutial part in finding her as they were able to locate her by using the coordinates from her cell phone and relaying that information to the ground teams.

A little over two miles into the woods and 90 minutes later, she was found by one of the CAP ground teams. Though she was cold and needed some assistance in getting up from the cold, damp ground, she was unhurt, awake, and alert, and extremely happy to see her rescuers there. The ground team immediately gave her hot coffee and hot chocolate to drink, along with plenty of water, and an energy bar. They wrapped her in a “space blanket” to keep her body heat trapped next to her and one of the ground team members also gave her his coat to wrap around the space blanket.

It took two hours to lead her out of the woods by the CAP ground team where she was assessed by the waiting ambulance team and released into the arms of her waiting and very thankful husband.

The members of CAP came from the Col Sac, Eau Claire, La Crosse, 153rd Madison, Ozaukee,Timmerman and Walco Squadrons and group and wing staff.

Other key players in this successful search and rescue were the Salvation Army who provided food for the rescuers and the rescued; Sauk Ambulance who was on hand to make sure she was not physically hurt after being out all night in the cold; the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department who aided by keeping hunters out of the search zone with road blocks (yes, it is hunting season in Wisconsin); and a Wisconsin State Patrol aircraft.

Sauk County officials have become a huge fan of the Civil Air Patrol since the flooding of 2008. They were impressed with the training and professional manner of its members. We train more than we go out on missions, and though one does not hope for missions, it is rewarding when one ends on a successful note.

Picture taken by:  The Sauk Ambulance EMT.

Pictured:  The hiker and her husband (center of photo), The Civil Air Patrol participants, and the Salvation Army personnel (in the red sweatshirts). 

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