Rescuers help injured hiker, lost bikers in Deschutes County

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team stayed busy Sunday evening, helping to rescue a fallen hiker in the Deschutes River canyon west of Redmond and guiding four lost mountain bikers at Smith Rock State Park to safety.

In the first incident, emergency dispatchers received a call about 6:30 p.m. that a hiker had fallen about 100 feet from a rock ledge west of Southwest Jaguar Avenue, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

Search and rescue team members and emergency personnel from Redmond Fire and Rescue stabilized Joshua Zukoski, 24, of Bend, and took him to a waiting medical helicopter. He was taken to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend, where he was listed in fair condition Monday, a spokeswoman said.

Less than 30 minutes later, emergency dispatchers received a cell phone call from a mountain biker who said he and three others were lost on the peaks at Smith Rock, a Sheriff’s Office news release stated. The caller said the bikers were dehydrated and out of water.

Search and rescue team members went to the state park and led the four mountain bikers – two Bend residents ages 20 and 21 and two Redmond residents, both age 25 – back to the main parking lot. No one was injured, the release stated.

The Sheriff’s Office encourages those recreating in Central Oregon to prepare for the possibility of being lost or injured by taking a cell phone, food, water, maps, a first-aid kit and possibly a GPS unit.