Injured hiker rescued at Virgin Falls State Park

On June 10, 2022, Sparta White County Rescue Squad was dispatched, at 2:43 p.m., to Virgin Falls State Park area, to assist with a hiker who had become incapacitated because of injuries.

According to Charlie Tollison, assistant chief Sparta-White County Rescue Squad and Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads vice president, knowing the location, rescue personnel immediately requested mutual aid from Cumberland County Rescue Squad, who not only responded but also brought Cumberland County Fire Department and Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency.

Complex rope systems were established across the gorge, with the patient being packaged into a Stokes basket. (The stokes basket is device used to both immobilize as well as transport a victim over terrain. See more information at the end of this story.) The victim was then transported across the gorge to an awaiting UTV (utility terrain vehicle) and moved to the landing zone, at approximately 6 p.m.

Sparta-White County Rescue Squad thanks the following: Cumberland County Rescue Squad, Cumberland County Fire Department, Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency, Tennessee State Parks, White County Sheriff Department deputies, White County Emergency Medical Service, Life Force air medical helicopter, and members of Sparta-White County Rescue Squad.

Historical information about inventor of Stokes basket

Charles Francis Stokes (1863-1931) joined the United States Navy in 1889 as an assistant surgeon. During the Spanish-American War, he served as a surgeon on USS Solace and later was professor of surgery at the Naval Medical School. He was appointed surgeon general, in 1910. He is best known for his invention of the Stokes stretcher, still in use, which proved of great value used in the close confines of ships. He raised the professional standards of the Medical Corps, instituted prophylaxis which practically ended typhoid in the Navy, planned and built the naval hospital at Pearl Harbor, and initiated planning for two new hospital ships USS Mercy and USS Relief.