Sheriff’s helicopter rescues hiker

Santa Rosa man was airlifted from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park Sunday afternoon after suffering an undisclosed medical emergency.
Greg Hanson, 49, was hiking with a friend and was several miles up a narrow trail between Sugarloaf and Hood Mountain shortly before 1:30 p.m. when the event occurred, a sheriff’s spokesman said Monday. They were able to contact emergency services by using their cell phone.
Sonoma County Sheriff’s helicopter “Henry-1” responded to Sugarloaf Park along with personnel from Kenwood Fire Department, American Medical Response and state and county parks departments. With nowhere to land nearby, Henry-1 landed on a mountain top near the hikers and set up for a long-line rescue.
Paramedic Sean Cotton and Sgt. Eric Thomson were flown on the end of a 100-foot rope directly to the hikers, where they secured Hanson into a rescue stretcher. All three were then flown back to the makeshift mountain landing zone, where the flight crew put Hanson into the helicopter and flew him to a awaiting ambulance for transport to Kaiser Hospital.