Woman rescued after Hwy 18 plunge

Family members located the injured woman in her car by using the “Find My iPhone” app. (Photos: San Bernardino County Fire)

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The rescued woman’s car landed on its side after plunging over the side of Highway 18.

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The Urban Search and Rescue team from County Fire Station 91 responded and rescued the woman.

Woman survives plunge off Highway 18
Technology helps locate and rescue her

When family members had not heard from one of the attendees at their holiday gathering, they used the “Find My iPhone” app to locate her. They discovered her car had plunged over the side of Highway 18 north of 40th Street in San Bernardino.
San Bernardino County Fire personnel responded to the family’s 911 call early on the morning of Dec. 26 and found her vehicle approximately 200 feet below the roadway. Firefighter-paramedics descended to the vehicle and found one adult female with serious injuries. They initiated advanced life support interventions while arriving rescuers set up a rope system to raise the victim and the rescuers.
The Urban Search and Rescue team from County Fire Station 91 in Lake Arrowhead responded with the necessary equipment, including a capstan raising system to safely bring the victim and the rescuers up. In addition, County Fire had responded with three engines.
Once she was raised to safety, the patient was taken to a trauma center by ambulance.
According to County Fire Battalion Chief Mike McClintock, the patient had likely been in her crashed vehicle overnight after leaving the family gathering. When asked about the nature of the patient’s injuries, Chief McClintock said they were “serious in nature and consistent with what would be expected from such an accident.”
The chief noted that County Fire does not release the names of patients.
In the comments on County Fire’s Facebook post about the accident, a woman named Mayra Cueller of Rialto identified herself as the victim’s sister. In answer to a request for an update on her sister’s condition, Cueller said she will be undergoing an operation but “is OK.” Cueller did not respond to requests to identify her sister or offer additional updates.