Two people suffering from heat stress had to be rescued by helicopter in a remote area of ​​southern Arizona this week, officials said.

In a press release Thursday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said two U.S. citizens sought emergency medical assistance near neighboring Montana Peak from the Tucson Border Patrol Department Monday afternoon from the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. announced that it had received a call requesting a response to the Arizona-Mexico border. One was unconscious and unconscious, and the other was suffering from extreme heat stress, CBP said.

Border Patrol agents were dispatched to the area and climbed Montana Peak on foot. Investigators “initiated emergency cooling measures at the scene” due to the “grave nature of the situation” after eventually finding a man and a woman, CBP said.

Investigators used small tarpaulins to provide shade and poured cold water on the men and women from personal bottles. Border Patrol paramedics then began administering intravenous therapy to the patient, while immediate air evacuation was requested, according to CBP.

“CBP Border Patrol and Air and Marine personnel operate daily in the extreme terrain and excessive heat common in southern Arizona, often with minimal regard for their own safety and well-being. We do,” said John Modlin, CBP Tucson Area Circuit Chief. he said in a statement Thursday. “Border agents will literally throw away water to save lives, knowing they have to crawl out of remote terrain in 100+ degrees heat.”

CBP Air-Sea Operations then crewed a UH-60 Blackhawk from the Tucson Aviation Branch at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The crew was able to locate the agent and two patients in a narrow cut below Montana Peak, but the terrain prevented them from landing. As such, paramedics and paramedics were lowered to the scene using helicopter hoists to examine the patient, CBP said.

A hoist rescue was immediately deemed necessary, and the men and women were packed for transport and hoisted to a waiting helicopter. The crew evacuated both patients to Banner University Medical Center in Tucson for further treatment and evaluation due to a “vulnerable condition,” CBP said. Further information about their condition was unknown.

“During the hot summer months, people living in the deserts of southern Arizona can quickly become overwhelmed by the heat,” said Jose Muriente, deputy director of air operations for CBP Tucson Airlines, in a statement Thursday. Stated. “In this case, men and women were able to recognize the situation they were in and contact emergency services, and CBP was able to respond to the situation. It often takes too long.”