Jeffrey Alderton
FLINTSTONE — A Flintstone man who was air-lifted out of his snowbound residence near the end of Murley’s Branch Road on Tuesday morning by Maryland State Police medevac Trooper 5 was listed in guarded condition a short time later at the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center.
Charles “Chip” Taylor, said to be in his mid-40s and suffering from disabilities, was treated for moderate to severe hypothermia after being flown to the medical center shortly before 9 a.m., according to Roger Bennett, Allegany County emergency services planner.
Taylor’s mobile home was without heat, food and electricity, and he had moved his family to a safe location following the power outage. He then reportedly attempted to remove snow out of the area when his front-end loader became disabled Saturday morning as heavy snow continued at that hour throughout the region. He continued to maintain contact with the Allegany County 911 center until Tuesday when officials lost contact with Taylor, according to Bennett.
“He asked to be rescued, and we had the HEAT team at the medevac hangar ready to do the rescue but two helicopters are necessary and Trooper 3 was unable to respond due to the weather.
“Trooper 5 flew to the scene and put a medic on the ground. With another medic on board, that enabled them to make the rescue. We were very fortunate medevac was able to do this rescue this morning, but with the weather we won’t be able to do any more extractions,” said Bennett as snow continued to fall in the Cumberland region at mid-morning.
The rescue efforts included the involvement of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, who were unable to access Taylor’s residence on Old Tom’s Hill Road with snowmobile and track vehicles.
The county had also been working closely with Allegheny Power through the weekend in an attempt to get Taylor’s electrical service restored. “We determined that it was going to be weeks before the power was restored there,” said Bennett.
“When we lost cell phone contact with him, that’s when we went into the rescue mode. We surprised him and probably scared him. Everyone did an excellent job — the dispatching team, HEAT team, Trooper 5 and NRP.”
The helicopter crew consisted of Pilot Harold Kelley, Sgt./Flight Paramedic H.B. Martz and Trooper/Flight Paramedic Greg Lantz.
Maryland State Police Sgt. Joe George said Martz lowered Lantz from the helicopter to the ground using the helicopter’s hoist cable. Lantz found Taylor suffering from exposure and hypothermia and assisted him to a nearby location where he was safely hoisted into the helicopter with use of a rescue basket. Taylor was then flown to the hospital.
A 911 dispatcher said the helicopter could not be flown from the hospital back to the Greater Cumberland Regional Airport due to poor weather conditions. However, snow stopped by early afternoon and conditions improved to allow the helicopter to be flown back to the airport.
Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.
