Rescuers followed footprints in the snow to find a weary and lost person after their cellphone died on Mount St. Helens over the weekend.
Volcano Rescue Team members received a call to investigate an SOS signal from a ZOLEO satellite communicator device near the summer route on the south side of Mount St. Helens at around 8 p.m. Sunday.
According to the Volcano Rescue Team, the subject was able to send one message before their phone died. The message indicated they were lost and exhausted.
Initial responders were dispatched in two teams of two heading toward the subject’s coordinates, while additional members began shuttling more rescue gear toward the incident.
Coordinates from the subject’s device revealed that the person had traveled several miles down hill and off the route.
Members were able to track the subjects' footprints all the way to their current location in a steep drainage before finally reaching them around 2 a.m.
The subject was cold and tired but otherwise uninjured, and the team was able to assist them back onto the trail and to the awaiting ARGO vehicle for the final stretch down to the parking lot.
In a statement online, the Volcano Rescue Team reminded hikers to always carry backup batteries for all electronics. Many emergency beacon devices are only able to send and receive detailed messages in combination with a smartphone.
The team also encourages hikers to remain where they are if they are lost — provided that it’s safe. Finding a moving target increases the search area and likely increases the time it takes for rescue teams to arrive, the Volcano Rescue Team stated.
