Injured hikers assisted at Raven Cliff Falls over holiday weekend

White County Fire Services and EMS aided an injured hiker via helicopter over the weekend at Raven Cliff Falls.

Crews with White County Fire Services and the Helen Fire Department responded to the area around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 5, regarding a woman reportedly bitten by a venomous snake, said White County Public Safety Director David Murphy.

“Due to the location of this event, aviation assets were automatically requested from the Georgia State Patrol,” Murphy said. “In these rescue situations, long-line rescue procedures are used to shorten the extraction time for the patients' well-being and the limited availability of ground teams.”

While making contact with the first patient, authorities were notified by a hiker about a second person with an ankle injury, Murphy said. A second EMS unit was requested, and EMS personnel hiked out that person to an ambulance. The victim with the snake bite was extracted by the aviation unit to another ambulance. Both were taken to local hospitals and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Murphy.

Responders cleared the location around 4:30 p.m., Murphy said.