Chattanooga, TN – Shortly after 7 p.m. on June 12, the Tennessee National Guard and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) were alerted to the situation at Double Spring Gap Shelter, near the North Carolina border.
Task Force Smokey quickly assembled a flight crew and dispatched a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The crew included 1st Lt. Gavin Huffman, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Koons, Sgt. Daniel Bandy, Sgt. 1st Class Giovanni DeZuani, and Staff Sgt. Sarah Hanna.
Twenty minutes after departure, the crew reached the shelter and paramedic Giovanni DeZuani was lowered to assist the hiker.
Both were then hoisted into the helicopter, which flew to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, arriving around 8:50 p.m.
The patient was transferred to emergency care, and the crew returned to base, landing before 9:30 p.m.