The city’s Fire and Rescue Department airlifted a 16-year-old boy from Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma after he was found unconscious by San Diego police officers early Sunday, April 15.
The incident took place at No Surf Beach at 12:48 a.m., according to fire department spokesman Maurice Luque.
Police were called to the scene and determined the teen was intoxicated, according to Lt. Greg Buchanen, a spokesman for San Diego Lifeguard Service.
Police found the teen alone and unconscious on a treacherous part of Sunset Cliffs “” near the intersection of Cordova Street and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, Luque said. The area is just off the main road and can be difficult to reach, Buchanen said.
“Anybody who is not able-bodied shouldn’t go down there “¦ it’s an unmaintained trail,” Buchanen said.
After police notified lifeguards, it was determined to be too dangerous and too dark to use a hoist to lift the 280-pound teen from the beach. He was subsequently airlifted by rescue helicopter, Luque said.
The teen, whose identity was not released because of age, was lifted to the street’s surface, placed into an ambulance and taken to University Hospital, Luque said. However, it is unclear if the boy was injured, he said.
The airlift shaved critical minutes off the rescue time, Luque said.
Had lifeguards used the hoist, it would have taken about two hours, he said.
The helicopter took about an hour to lift the teen from the area because of high winds, he said.
San Diego Fire and Rescue Department Service and other first-responders are immediately available in case of just such an emergency, he said.
Although the Fire and Rescue Department doesn’t typically calculate the cost of each operation, the rescue helicopter costs about $3,000 an hour to operate, he said.
“We’re not sending [the parents] a bill “¦ that’s why people pay taxes,” Luque said.