Rescue Wheelchair/Wheelbarrow

I think I've heard about this contraption before, but...

While gathering near the trailhead for a hike to Mt. Tom on Sunday (5/31) there was a group of about ten in a circle around what looked like a large stroller or wheelchair. Like a wheelbarrow, it had a big wheel on the front. and handles on the back.

The group headed out before us and we never saw them again. Guessing they turned towards Willard, while we went straight. What's the deal with that device?

Sar-Dog?

Well, I don't think it was for rescue. It sounds more like a garden cart being used for trail maintenance.

A wheeled litter used for rescue typically has the wheel under the patient. It can be a godsend in the right circumstances, as it makes an evacuation substantially easier. In the wrong circumstances, it's a quick way to dump an injured person onto the rocks.

Occasionally the right tool is not at hand. Then it's time to improvise, as one of our handlers did a few years back. We'd been looking for a couple of kids all night. A dog team found them at dawn. The younger child was hypothermic, so they started carrying the kid out. A handler found an abandoned wheelbarrow in the woods and wheeled the kid about a mile to an ambulance -- even beating me back to the trailhead as I tried to catch up to lend a hand.

Hmmmm. Thanks. There was a duffle bag in the "seat" which might have been holding tools. I thought it was a "practice" patient.