November 4, 09

NEWS / Border Patrol Teams Rescue Pregnant Female from Arizona Canyon

Apache, Ariz. – Recruitment posters routinely emphasize outdoor adventures of the U.S. Border Patrol. Agents from Lordsburg, N.M. got to experience the real thing this past weekend when they helped save the life of a Salvadoran migrant by creating a makeshift gurney to carry a pregnant migrant in need of medical care to an awaiting helicopter near Apache, Arizona.


The ordeal began Friday when the Lordsburg Border Patrol station was notified about a subject in distress nearby just north of Douglas, Ariz. The information was provided by an El Salvadoran migrant who stated that he and his wife were abandoned by a “coyote” in the desert near Apache the day prior when they could not keep up with the other smuggled members of the group. The man said he was forced to leave his pregnant wife in the hills somewhere between Horseshoe Canyon and Jackwood Canyon, north of Apache.


At approximately 1:30 p.m. agents performing the ancient art of “sign-cutting” discovered a female subject matching the description of the woman in Horseshoe Canyon. The agents requested that a Lifenet Air Medical Team be activated since the woman required further medical attention. Forty-five minutes later, a Lifenet helicopter arrived on the scene.


Due to the rough terrain, the helicopter was unable to land near the injured woman, so agents created a makeshift gurney out of yucca, jackets, daypacks, belts and shoelaces to carry her to the awaiting aircraft. They transported her approximately 1.5 miles through rough terrain. Lifenet loaded the woman and transported her to Tucson Medical Center, where she is being treated for exposure and dehydration.


These types of actions are indicative of the commitment by Border Patrol agents to secure America’s borders while maintaining a strong sense of humanitarianism for persons in distress.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/11032009.xml