First responders in right place at right time to help snowmobile accident victim

GILFORD — A young Massachusetts snowmobiler, who was critically hurt in an accident on Lake Winnipesaukee Saturday, received valuable assistance within minutes because several emergency responders happened to be close by.

State Fish and Game said the victim, an 11-year-old from Westford, Massachusetts, was injured when their snowmobile struck a pressure ridge on the ice in the area of The Witches, a rocky area between Lockes and Governors islands, at about 4 p.m. Saturday.

Because injuries were considered to be potentially life-threatening, the decision was made at the scene to transport the victim by air ambulance to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.

Two off-duty Gilford police officers, Lt. Dustin Parent, and K-9 Officer Curtis Mailloux, were ice-fishing nearby and were talking with three Fish & Game officers when a person came up to them to tell them of the accident.

All five immediately rushed to the scene — the Fish & Game officers on snowmobiles, and Parent and Mailloux on an Argo amphibious all-terrain vehicle they had used to get out to their fishing spot.

Gilford Fire-Rescue was dispatched at 4:16 p.m. and was notified that the youngster had suffered head and abdominal injuries, Fire Chief Steve Carrier said Monday.

Parent said when he arrived on the scene the victim was lying on the ice. Parent said he, Mailloux, and others at the scene used their bodies and the Argo to shield the victim from the stiff wind that was blowing across the frozen lake.

“We were doing what we could to make sure the victim wouldn’t suffer from hypothermia,” Parent said.

He said the victim was placed in the Argo to be transported to shore. An officer sat with the victim, to hold their head steady as the vehicle traveled across the rough frozen surface.

The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Air Rescue Transport helicopter was directed to the Laconia Airport, about 2 miles from where the victim was brought to shore and placed in a waiting ambulance at the Gilford Town Docks.

The victim arrived at the airport at 5:03 p.m. and was airborne en route to DMHC 40 minutes later, Carrier said.

Fish & Game on Monday had no information about the victim’s condition.

The snowmobile accident was the more serious of two which occurred on Winnipesaukee on Saturday.

At about 7:30 a.m. Saturday a snowmobiler was injured when he lost control of his machine after it struck a pressure ridge in Tuftonboro.

Fish and Game identified the operator as Cody Owen, 26, of Moultonborough. Owen, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown from the snowmobile and suffered minor injuries, the agency said.

Owen was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for treatment of his injuries.