911 dispatcher uses Facebook to find injured hiker in California

SHARE 911 dispatcher uses Facebook to find injured hiker in California

LAKE BERRYESSA, Calif. — Officials say a 911 dispatcher in training used Facebook to locate a Northern California hiker critically injured after falling a 150 feet down a cliff while hiking near Lake Berryessa.

Ryan Pritchard was hiking with his son in the remote Blue Ridge Loop Trail when he slipped and fell. His 11-year-old called 911 but the call got cut off before he could tell dispatchers where his father was.

Dispatchers were hitting a dead-end trying to make contact when trainee Breanna Martinez decided to do a search for Pritchard on Facebook.

She tells CBS13 in Sacramento the very first post on Pritchard’s page was a picture of his two sons standing in front of Lake Berryessa and the comment ‘Hiking the Blue Ridge Trail today.’”

That post helped bring rescue crews to the area in time to get Pritchard out before sunset.

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