ATV Unit Makes First Rescue - Woman Ill On Tracks

The Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Department's new all-terrain rescue vehicle was put to use for the first time Sunday September 22 when a woman on horseback became ill along the CSX railroad tracks.

The call for ATV 12 was dispatched shortly after 10 am, along with Sykesville's paramedic unit and rescue squad. A woman who had fallen off a horse on Saturday had gone out again Sunday morning, but had become ill along the railroad tracks somewhere between Marriottsville Road and Route 32, a five mile distance.

While the ATV unit was being unloaded, crews quickly began a search of the railroad tracks on foot. The woman was located a short time later along the railway, near the old Henryton State Hospital grounds.

The ATV unit made its way to the scene, accompanied by EMS personnel and firefighters. The woman was quickly stabilized, and placed in a "stokes" stretcher, which was secured to the ATV unit. The woman was then brought up out of the railroad and to a waiting ambulance. There was a short trip to a waiting Maryland State Police medevac helicopter, and the woman was flown to Shock Trauma in Baltimore.

The incident marks the first time the ATV unit was used since being placed in service on September 1. The unit is the first of its kind in Carroll County, and is one of only a handful in Central Maryland specially equipped for all-terrain rescue. The unit was bought through funds secured in a federal Assistance to Firefighter's grant.