An elderly fisherman found himself in a precarious situation on Saturday, needing rescue after becoming stranded on a riverbank at the base of a steep, 20-foot incline.
The unidentified man sustained injuries and became trapped on the hillside, positioned below railroad tracks in Emsworth, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The exact circumstances of his injuries remain unclear. However, reports of the incident reached the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Company around 9:45 p.m., prompting alerts to three of its stations.
First responders swiftly arrived on the scene, locating the man before seeking additional support from another fire station to bolster their efforts.
Emergency personnel descended the hill, securing the man with a rope as part of a coordinated effort involving eight individuals to pull him to safety.
“Crews used a rope system and stokes basket to bring the male up to safety,” stated David Novak, the communications operator at the Moon Township Police Department, in an official release.
A stokes basket is essentially a stretcher designed to be hooked up to ropes or cables so that it can be lifted into the air.
The entire rescue operation took a brisk 25 minutes from the time first responders were dispatched, according to the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Company.
An elderly fisherman was rescued after being injured and trapped on this steep hillside by a river in Emsworth, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
First responders are pictured placing the man into a Stokes basket, which is a kind of stretcher that is designed to be hooked to ropes
Personnel from several fire departments, EMS and police were involved in the rescue effort, which took a brisk 25 minutes from the time they were dispatched
The effort involved personnel from the Emsworth and Avalon Volunteer Fire Companies, the Bellevue and North Fayette Township Fire Departments, Northwest EMS and the Ohio Township Police Department.
Novak said that Norfolk Southern trains, which run on the tracks above the riverbank where the elderly man was trapped, were halted during the operation.
The injured elderly man was carried to an ambulance while lying in the Stokes basket and transported to Northwest EMS for treatment.
On the Facebook post announcing the rescue, several locals praised the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Company and congratulated them on a job well done.
‘Some rope rescue!!! You guys do it ALL!!! Awesome!’ one person wrote.
‘Thank you! We appreciate you!’ said another.
‘Great job. Ty (thank you) for your service to the communities. That’s a dangerous place to fish. Especially for an older guy,’ a third chimed in.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Company for comment and additional details regarding how the elderly man became injured and trapped.
These eight first responders pulled the rope in a line to bring the elderly man to safety
The injured man is pictured getting carried off in the Stokes basket before he was transported to Northwest EMS for treatment
Some other recent successful rescue operations by first responders include a New Jersey teenager with autism who was spotted by FBI pilots after a 36-hour search on March 21.
Aerial footage showed the teen curled up next to a tree in a heavily wooded nature preserve near his home.
He was secured by officials who then led him on about an hour-long hike out of the woods so he could be reunited with his family.
Also on March 21, two Maryland state troopers saved an infant who was choking.
The incident unfolded on camera as an officer rushed to save the non-breathing baby, performing desperate life-saving measures while the mother helplessly stood by.
The troopers, named Taylor Hersh and Jonathan Stoltzfus, were hailed as heroes after saving the baby.
