Powell County Search & Rescue

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Powell County Search & Rescue

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The Powell County Search and Rescue Team is a completely non-profit and full volunteer organization. We strive to provide the citizens of Powell Co, and the visitors to the Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge, the quickest and safest rescues if they are necessary. Our members are trained on a variety of rescue techniques so they can provide proper aid to those in need.

05/31/2026

What a Saturday! After spending all day with thousands of other people at the incredible Bigfoot festival, we received a call for a hiker who had suffered a possible broken ankle at Natural Bridge State Park. Natural Bridge State Resort Park park rangers made contact with the patient and determined that it would be a carry out. We hiked up the original trail to to Natural Bridge and located the injured hiker. PCSAR loaded the patient onto our rigid litter for carry out. Powell County Emergency Medical Services splinted the broken ankle, and provided care for the patient throughout the extraction. The patient was taken to the hospital and is expected to fully recover.
The team did hear some grunting sounds coming from woods while on scene. At first, we were sure it was Bigfoot watching us. It was later determined that it was just assistant chief Jon Neal trying to catch his breath after carrying the equipment to the top of Natural Bridge.

05/29/2026

We are ready for one of the biggest festivals of the year! The population of Powell County nearly doubled at last years event, and this years festival will be even bigger. Stop by the Powell County Search and Rescue booth for lots of hands on demonstrations and some very cool swag! We will have some special Bigfoot decals, tokens and coloring book pages. We will also be giving away some special bottles of bourbon. We can’t wait to see everyone!
Stanton Tourism and Convention Commission
Powell County Tourism - Red River Gorge

05/24/2026

This afternoon at approximately 2:50 PM, Powell County Search and Rescue, alongside Powell County Emergency Medical Services, was dispatched to Natural Bridge State Resort Park for a patient suffering from an ankle injury atop Natural Bridge. Kentucky State Park Rangers and Park Personnel made initial contact with the patient and provided updates to responding crews.

While personnel were responding to this incident, Powell County 911 Dispatch received a second call involving a patient of unknown age who had reportedly fallen between Haystack Rock and Auxier Ridge Trail within the Daniel Boone National Forest. Initial reports indicated the incident would require a high-angle rescue, with the patient reportedly suffering from an apparent ankle injury.

Due to the simultaneous nature of both incidents, additional resources from Wolfe County Search & Rescue Team were requested, as it was unclear whether either incident would require an extended carryout operation.

Upon making contact with the patient at Natural Bridge, crews utilized a stair chair to evacuate the patient to the Skylift area, where they were evaluated by Powell County EMS personnel and released at the scene.

Crews later made contact with bystanders and the reporting party near Haystack Rock, who advised that fellow hikers had already assisted the patient out of the crevasse and believed they could slowly walk toward the trailhead. Three hasty teams were deployed from the command post to intercept, evaluate, and assist with the patient’s evacuation utilizing a rigid litter.

The patient was subsequently packaged and evacuated to the trailhead, where they declined further medical treatment and self-transported to a local hospital.

Crews were also assisted on scene by U.S. Forest Service-Daniel Boone National Forest Law Enforcement.

We remind visitors to the Gorge to please exercise extreme caution while traversing wet or slippery terrain!

05/18/2026

Today Powell County Search and Rescue responded to Natural Bridge State Resort Park Rock Garden Trail for a hiker with a suspected ankle fracture. Kentucky State Parks personnel made initial contact with the patient prior to SAR crews arriving on scene.

Responders provided patient care before packaging the patient for a carry out. Due to steep and difficult terrain, crews utilized low-angle rope systems to safely carry the patient to the awaiting ambulance for further evaluation.

As temperatures continue to rise, we encourage all visitors to stay hydrated and wear appropriate footwear and to plan accordingly before hitting the trails.

Special thanks to Kentucky State Parks employees and ranger who assisted with today's incident.

05/06/2026

Two of our team members are a part of this incredible team! We are so fortunate to have assets like this in our Commonwealth and appreciate all of the effort that goes into building programs like these!

04/19/2026

Yesterday was the perfect day for training. After our monthly meeting, the team got outside for some incident command, lost person behavior, and litter navigation training!

04/02/2026

Yesterday afternoon, Powell County Search and Rescue responded to a report of an injured hiker in the Devils Gulch area of Natural Bridge State Resort Park.

A Kentucky State Parks ranger was first on scene and remained with the patient until additional resources arrived. The patient, a 45-year-old female, had sustained a lower extremity injury after rolling her ankle while hiking, leaving her unable to continue down the trail.

Once rescuers made contact, the patient was assessed and treated. Crews then packaged the patient into a litter and conducted a carryout down to the lodge area. The patient elected to self-transport to the hospital.

Special thanks to the following agencies for their assistance on this call;

Estill County Rescue Squad
Middlefork Fire/Rescue
Kentucky State Parks
Lee County Search & Rescue

02/22/2026

Yesterday we were privileged to host a Lost Person Behavior course following our monthly meeting. We had a fantastic turnout from folks all over the region.

A huge thank you to Alex Hyrcza and Tracy Clemens for taking the time to put this course together!

02/19/2026

Search and rescue crews in Kentucky work every year to locate people and bring them to safety. Like many first responders, that includes going into potentially dangerous situations. For search and rescue teams, however, there is no death benefit provided should something go wrong. More below.

01/27/2026

Check out these photos of our back yard.

Address

Stanton, KY
40380

Telephone

+16064818641

Website

https://www.pocosar.org/

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