A 70-year-old man was airlifted to hospital in a stable condition after being winched from a remote gorge in Kakadu yesterday afternoon.
The man was with an organised group two days into a two week trek when he collapsed due to heat stress and dehydration.
Being two day’s walk from help, the group called emergency services for help via a satellite phone. CareFlight’s Top End Rescue Helicopter was tasked shortly before 4pm.
The helicopter winched a flight nurse down to the gorge near Surprise Creek to assess the patient, who had received first aid from his accompanying tour group.
CareFlight, who operates the Top End Medical Retrieval Service on behalf of the Northern Territory Government, flew the man to Royal Darwin Hospital shortly before 7pm in a stable condition.
CareFlight praised the tour group for their immediate actions in providing first and contacting emergency services.
