On September 29, 2024, at 3:43pm, Gallatin County 911 Dispatch was notified of an injured horseback rider on the Porcupine Creek Trail. The injured party had been bucked from a horse and suffered a major hip injury.

Volunteers from Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office SAR (GCSSAR), Big Sky Team, deployed in side-by-side OHVs to access the patient. Big Sky Fire Department (BSFD) medics teamed with GCSSAR to provide the highest level of medical care available in the backcountry. The patient was assessed, stabilized, transported to the trailhead, and then transferred into a waiting BSFD ambulance. A Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Deputy stepped in to drive the ambulance to Big Sky Medical Center which allowed additional BSFD personnel to provide focused care. At BSMC, the patient was transferred to Life Flight Air Ambulance before ultimately being taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center in Bozeman.

Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer would like to thank the partner public safety agencies who were quickly able to mobilize and form a team to provide excellent care to the injured party. Sheriff Springer would also like to thank the bystanders who helped provide information and assistance on this call. In Big Sky, no single entity has every necessary resource for an emergency like this; but by quickly combining staff, volunteers, and bystanders, the first responders in Big Sky were able to make sure the injured party received the best medical care possible.