Rega had an intense holiday season. Between December 24 and 26, air guard helicopters intervened 100 times across Switzerland, announces the organization. Half of the missions took place on December 26.
Two operations that day put the teams particularly to the test. In the Bernese Oberland, near Brienz, a mountaineer from a two-person team fell several hundred meters in the Mittagschrinne area. The very steep terrain required the intervention of a specialist from the Swiss Alpine Rescue (SAS), as well as two helicopters to evacuate the seriously injured victim.
A “blind” flight due to fog
In a second case, in Kreuzberg (SG), a climber was hit in the face by a stone and injured in the upper part of a wall. Rega, again with the support of the SAS, was able to airlift the injured man and his companion. However, the visibility was so poor because of the fog that the crew had to resort to an “instrument” flight procedure, that is to say, guiding themselves only by the indications of the on-board devices, and not by sight.
Note that a year ago, Rega carried out around a third more interventions during the same period.
(dbr)