CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Several law enforcement and emergency agencies teamed up to rescue a 71-year-old man who collapsed while hiking Wednesday afternoon.
Gerard Jalbert of Falmouth and a friend were descending Mount Redington around 12:30 p.m. when Jalbert collapsed on the trail, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesperson Mark Latti said in a press release Thursday.
Jalbert's friend called 911, and emergency officials were able to get their exact location through the cellphone.
Two teams consisting of game wardens and fire officials from Eustis and Carrabassett Valley assembled and began hiking in. One team hiked the Appalachian Trail up Crocker Mountain to access the Redington trail, while the other team traveled by ATV on the Caribou Pond Road to an old snowmobile trail that intersects with the Redington trail, the release stated.
Both teams reached Jalbert around 3:15 p.m. and then contacted the Maine Forest Service, which responded by helicopter to hoist him out of the woods. He was then transferred to a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter, which took him to Maine Medical Center, according to officials.
As of Thursday morning, Jalbert was at the hospital with stable vital signs, the release stated.
“With the need to get Mr. Jalbert to the hospital quickly, state agencies and local emergency personnel were able to work together to rescue a man in a very remote area among some of Maine’s highest mountains,” Sgt. Scott Thrasher of the Maine Warden Service said in the release.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said it would provide updates if any new information becomes available.