Ski resort worker hurt in ATV wreck

RUMFORD – A Black Mountain of Maine employee was treated and released from a Lewiston hospital after being flown there Wednesday morning after an all-terrain vehicle accident at the Rumford ski resort, Maine Warden Service Maj. Gregg Sanborn said Wednesday afternoon in Augusta.

Steven Child, 43, of Rumford suffered head and possible internal injuries in the 8:10 a.m. accident near the top of Black Mountain when the two-wheel-drive four-wheel Honda ATV he was riding, flipped and threw him, Sanborn said.

Med-Care Ambulance Director Dean Milligan said at the scene that Child was struck in the head by a propane tank he was carrying up the mountain. Besides the head and a hip injury, Child was in and out of consciousness and confused after the accident, Med-Care Assistant Chief Chris Moretto said at the mountain.

That’s why LifeFlight helicopter was sent to the resort after Med-Care and Rumford firefighters were notified at 9:04 a.m. of the wreck. The helicopter arrived at 9:36 a.m.

Child was carried in a litter by seven firefighters and resort employees to a four-wheel drive pickup truck driven about halfway up the mountain.

“He was pretty cold,” Moretto said.

The driver took Child to the waiting helicopter, which left at 9:54 a.m. bound for Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. There, Child was met and interviewed by investigating Warden Dave Chabot while Warden Norm Lewis investigated the ATV and accident scene.

Resort spokesman Craig Zurhorst said after the incident that Child and another employee had ridden ATVs up the mountain to burn a brush pile at the new Allagash Glade trail.

Milligan said Child’s ATV caught a patch of ice and started sliding backward and sideways down the mountain before catching on grass and flipping over.

Attempts were made by resort employees to contact emergency responders by cell phone, but they had problems getting coverage, Moretto said.

Milligan, Moretto and Zurhorst credited a mass casualty drill completed less than 10 days ago at the resort for streamlining the rescue effort.

“All that training we did paid off. It helped us get him down faster. Everything went really smooth,” Moretto said.

“Practice really does matter, and, being able to establish teamwork ahead of an emergency, can really pay off,” Zurhorst added.

Child was carried down the mountain from about the same spot where the drill involved a failed lift scenario.

Resort employees have been making snow and doing last- minute work in preparation for a Tuesday, Dec. 26, opening at the ski area.