Air Guard flies two people hurt in avalanche near Eklutna Lake to Anchorage hospital

Alaska Air National Guard rescuers evacuated two people injured in an avalanche near Eklutna Lake on Saturday, Oct. 10, and flew them to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers got the avalanche report at 12:31 pm, according to the troopers' dispatch log. Troopers asked the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center for help, and the Guard sent a Black Hawk-type HH-60W helicopter from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with pararescuemen aboard, according to a Guard release. Neither agency named the two or described their injuries.

The crew landed in a clearing near the site, about 30 miles northeast of Anchorage. The rescuers gave the two "life-saving medical treatment" to stabilize them before the flight, the Guard said.

"It's avalanche season in Alaska," Graham Predeger of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center said in the Guard's release. "If folks are getting out and recreating in these risky areas, we recommend they bring a full complement of avalanche rescue gear: an avalanche beacon, shovel and probe." He also recommended traveling with a partner and telling someone where you're going and when you expect to be back. The rescue coordination center recommended carrying a personal locator beacon.