Emergency responder details "very difficult process" that led to mountain biker rescue at Kettle Moraine

PALMYRA -- A mountain biker is seriously hurt while riding on trains in the Kettle Moraine State Forest and it takes emergency responders eight hours to get the biker out an into an ambulance on Monday, September 14th.

Bicyclist injured in Jefferson County

The Emma Carlin Trail head is a familiar terrain to avid cyclists, but its rugged trails and think vegetation mean...

"It's not conducive to emergency response access," said James Small, Public Safety Director for the Village of Palmyra.

That presented a problem for emergency crews when the mountain biker was injured and stranded several miles into the trail system.

"First and foremost, we need to locate where is this person at," said Small.

The biker was with a friend and the pair were able to pin their location using Google Maps and send a screen shot to rescuers.

"We were able to figure out, okay here's where they are in the forest but then the question became: how do we get there?" said Small.

Small was among the responders trying to get to the injured biker.

"You can see where the ground's kind of tore up here where the four-wheelers went in," Small said.

Four-wheeler trail to rescue mountain biker

Small says normally, they take ATV's out on the trails so they can carry their equipment. But on Monday night, they found the trails in this particular spot just weren't big enough for the vehicles.

"We had a search group that ultimately was able to find a route to him and that took a couple of hours for us to locate," said Small.

They then began the labor intensive process of strapping the biker to the portable stretcher and hauling him out of the forest.

"Trying to carry them for two miles through rugged terrain, it's a very very difficult process and it starts wearing people down very quickly," Small said.

But through teamwork and meticulous planning, the responders were able to get the biker out and to an ambulance eight hours after the initial 911 call.

"The responders did a phenomenal job on this, without a doubt," said Small.

The biker was taken to a Milwaukee area hospital by Flight for Life. The person's injuries are thought to be non-life threatening, but at this point, authorities have not released any more information about the condition of the biker.