January 17, 2012
From Hunterdon County Democrat
READINGTON — An 87-year-old Ringoes man was rescued after being
severely injured in a 25-foot fall from a tree stand while hunting.
On Saturday, Jan. 14, at about 11:20 a.m., after Readington
Police received an emergency 9-1-1 call, rescuers used an
all-terrain vehicle equipped with medical gear to get to the man,
investigators said. The man was later identified as Harold P. Bush.
Bush was in a wooded area atop Round Valley Mount, about 1.5
miles off the nearest paved road.
The area of the accident was off Creek Road, between the
intersections of Old Farm and Mountain roads with Rt. 523, just
south of the Municipal Building and Whitehouse Station, according to
emergency radio reports.
Because of the steep slope in the area, Bush was placed in a type
of stretcher called a “stokes basket” and carried roughly half a
mile downhill by about six rescuers to a waiting utility vehicle, a
Ford F250 pickup truck, according to Whitehouse Rescue Squad Chief
Jeff Herzog.
The truck drove Bush to the State Police’s NorthStar medical
evacuation helicopter, which had landed at Cornhuskers Park on
Dreahook Road off of Route 523. The helicopter flew Bush to Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick to be treated for
several internal injuries.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 17, Bush was in the intensive care
unit, according Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
Along with Readington Police, Hunterdon County Paramedics,
Whitehouse Rescue Squad and the Whitehouse Fire Department took part
in the rescue, authorities said.
