RICHMOND, Va. –
After years of intense training and planning, Virginia National Guard aviation crews and Chesterfield County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Scuba Rescue Team members conducted real-world rescue hoists of stranded citizens Sept. 27 and 28, 2024, in and around Abingdon, Virginia, due to flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.
Together, the aviators and technical rescue specialists form the Virginia Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team, or HART, to provide rotary wing aviation rescue hoist capabilities, and can conduct aerial rescue evacuation in emergency situations.
While the team has been called on in the past to be on stand-by for emergency response missions, the rescues conducted in the wake of Hurricane Helene were the first real-world rescues the team has performed. HART rescued a total of six survivors, including five via rescue hoist. They also were able to transport ground rescue teams and conducted route and area search and rescue flights.
“It is an incredible feeling for the HART to be given the opportunity to conduct rescue operations and support the citizens of Virginia,” said Chief Warrant Officer Mark Hoffman, lead pilot for VAHART. “So many people worked hard over the past 13 years building and training the VAHART and getting the team ready for operations like Hurricane Helene.”
“The team has worked together to develop procedures and processes, and they’ve done extensive training and exercises over those years,” said Chesterfield Fire & EMS Chief Edward L. Senter Jr. “It’s really great to see this team come together and be used in the way it was intended.”
In one case, an elderly survivor was rescued from the wreckage of his home, which washed away in a flood near Taylor’s Valley, just outside of Damascus, Virginia. According to local news reports, the man and his wife were separated when their home split apart. She would eventually be rescued 16 hours later.
That was just one of HART’s rescues in the region.
“The team also deployed rescue technicians twice to help facilitate and support two separate rescues by ground,” said Hoffman. “Two people were extracted from logs and debris in the middle of a fast-flowing river. Two more men were extracted from Route 58, who had been isolated due to the roads being washed out. Finally, one elderly lady in a wheelchair was recovered from the side of the river and taken to a safer location. She was not in imitate danger, but ground teams were having difficulty finding a way to get the victim across the river.”
“It was great to go down and help people out,” said Capt. Charles Jackson, one of HART’s pilots. “That’s what we train on. We don’t want it to happen, but when it does happen, we want to be able to go out there and help the people of Virginia.”
Virginia HART originally formed as a partnership between VNG aviators and rescue specialists from Chesterfield Fire & EMS in 2011, since then, they have been called on during response operations including Hurricane Harvey in Houston and more recently Hurricane Florence in South Carolina, though they did not conduct any rescues in those cases. The team conducts quarterly training specifically to practice these kinds of rescues, including rescues from cars, building rooftops and aquatic environments, including swift water rescues.
“HART conducts realistic and challenging training,” said Hoffman. “The team conducts search and rescue training evolutions throughout the year that focus on large area open flooding, swift water rescue, urban rescue and mountain operations. The detailed and disciplined training was key to our success during Hurricane Helene response operations.”
That success did not happen without significant obstacles. According to team members, it was the very reason HART was called up that provided the biggest challenge: Weather.
“The HART team launched both aircraft at the tail end of the storm, fighting low ceilings and visibility and high winds in order to get the rescue area,” said Hoffman. “During the rescues, the crews had to fight dynamic winds, turbulence, and mountainous terrain. To overcome the weather the crews had to fight through and in some cases, land and wait out the weather.”
Ultimately, both the VNG aviators as well as the Chesterfield rescue specialists are now even better prepared for the next time the team is launched for emergency response operations.
“I think the experience of getting to put years of training to the test and also getting to take part in helping Virginia has really enhanced the bond of the team,” said Hoffman.
Now, another major challenge is emerging as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida. Ahead of the storm, HART assembled again to send one Black Hawk to Florida in support of an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request for additional assets. The HART crew said they are ready to help.
“This is an elite team. Everyone on this team is top-notch, and I’m happy to be working with them,” said Rescue Technician Tyler Younce. “Having the opportunity to go down to Florida and potentially save lives, that’s the goal. The bond we share with the aviators from the National Guard is second to none. We train with these guys and we’re one big family. We’ve got their backs and they have ours.”
“Helping anyone in our time of need is why we’re here,” said Jackson. “Going down to Florida, it’s different from what we operate in, and there are unknowns about what it’s going to look like down there. At the end of the day it’s about helping people, so we’re happy to do it.”
Read more about the VNG’s Hurricane Helene emergency response at vngpao.info/mr2x6d7n.
Read more about HART’s deployment to Florida to support Hurricane Milton response at vngpao.info/2rnb3cwf.