Emergency responders conducted two separate water-related rescues involving a 6-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man in Acadia National Park on Saturday, according to the National Park Service. Both victims were taken by helicopter to area hospitals.
At 2:48 p.m., a swimmer flagged down a lifeguard at Sand Beach to help the 18-year-old in the ocean. Witnesses reported that the young man had been diving into shallow water before needing assistance. Rangers, with assistance from bystanders, including a trauma nurse, helped stabilize the man on a backboard. He was evacuated to the beach parking lot to a Bar Harbor ambulance and then taken by Life Flight to Bangor.
Just over an hour later, emergency responders were called to an incident on the Cannon Brook Trail. A 6-year-old boy sustained head and neck injuries when he fall about 50 feet into a pool of water next to the trail. Park officials say the family had been swimming and the child slid down a slope and continued into the water. Over 30 people from Acadia National Park, Maine Forest Service, Friends of Acadia Summit Stewards and the Mount Desert Island Search and Rescue responded and the boy was taken by Life Flight to an area hospital.
Like other national parks, Acadia National Park has seen a spike in use during the pandemic, and along with it, an increase in emergency calls.
Park officials say Acadia National Park has seen a 65 percent increase in rescues over 2019.
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