Carslbad Caverns rangers praised for swift response to visitor suffering from stroke

Carlsbad Caverns rangers are being lauded alongside local first responders and a bystander physician for their recent efforts to provide swift medical care to a visitor suffering from a stroke while on a trail.

The rangers were notified the visitor was on the Big Room Trail having difficulty breathing. They responded from the surface with medical equipment, including the park’s rugged 4-wheel drive wheelchair, while a physician bystander was also on scene, according to national park.

After reaching the scene the rangers began their evaluation and treatment, transporting the patient a half mile back to the elevators to return to the surface.

The patient was met by medics from the Carlsbad and Eddy County fire departments and provided advanced-level patient care, park officials said.

Rangers blocked off a helicopter landing zone within the visitor center parking lot, where a TransAero Medevac 2 landed and then transported the patients to the Stroke Center at University Medical Center in El Palo.

“The patient received definitive care at the UMC El Paso Stroke Center in under 3 hours from symptom onset,” park officials said.

Park officials expressed “sincere appreciation” to the bystander physician, the Emergency Dispatch Authority, Carlsbad Fire, Eddy County Fire and Rescue, TransAero Medevac 2 and to its “very own excellent rangers for their rapid and coordinated response.”