Man airlifted from Cedar Creek area

By Karen Brainard

A man was airlifted from the Cedar Creek Falls area after he complained of chest pain and shortness of breath on Thursday afternoon, said Capt. Robert Ramirez of Ramona Fire Station 81.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department ASTREA unit was called to airlift the victim to the Cedar Creek trailhead parking lot on Thornbush Road in San Diego Country Estates where Cal Fire/Ramona fire department paramedics were stationed, said Deputy Jay Pavlenko a crew member on the ASTREA helicopter.

Paramedics transferred the man to a Mercy Air helicopter, which landed on the San Vicente Golf Course across from station 81 and flew the victim to UCSD Medical Center.

Ramirez said the man was in his 50s and had a previous heart condition.

According to Pavlenko, the man complained of getting over-heated.

“He seemed alert. He was able to walk to the helicopter,” Pavlenko said.

The man was with three other men who were carrying rifles and appeared to be hunting, said the deputy. Hunting of wild pigs is allowed in areas of the Cleveland National Forest.

Information on this incident was unavailable from the forest service.

The Cedar Creek Falls trailhead and trail have been closed since July by the United States Forest Service following the death of a teen at the falls, numerous rescues, and complaints by neighbors of the trailhead. The closure is scheduled to last through April 1, 2012, while the forest service devises a better management plan for the trail.