On January 27, at approximately 11.55 pm, 39-year-old Renee Mitchell, a mother of one who was attending a fete at the San Fernando Hill, went outside the fete to relieve herself close to a hedge.
The ground under her feet gave way, and Mitchell fell 40 feet off the cliff, rolling almost 20 feet on a declining surface before coming to a hard stop.
Fire officers were immediately alerted and made a valiant attempt to rescue Mitchell.
The rescue team attempted to reach Mitchell from the base of the hill, but lighting, bushes and the rocky terrain made the rescue efforts very difficult.
The fire officers returned to the top of the hill, lowered themselves by rope and located Mitchell within an hour. The officers secured Mitchell to a backboard, making it back to the top of the hill at approximately 6.45 am the next day, approximately six and a half hours after Mitchell fell off the cliff.
She was rushed by ambulance to the San Fernando General Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries at 7.20 am.
Helicopter search and rescue (SAR) capabilities could have made a significant difference during the attempts to rescue Mitchell.
A SAR helicopter would have been able to winch down a paramedic team to the bottom of the cliff to provide life-saving medical attention to Mitchell.
[caption id="attachment_1063942" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TT Coast Guard in hot pursuit of high sea drug runners during a mock operation display in 2013. - File photo[/caption]
Once stabilised, Mitchell could have been winched up and transported directly by the helicopter for emergency medical treatment at the hospital, where there is a helipad for helicopters to land.
On April 28, 2011, two of the four AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters, valued at $2.1 billion, arrived at the TT Air Guard base located at Piarco International Airport.
The helicopters had both winching capabilities for SAR and Bambi buckets for firefighting in hilly terrain not accessible by fire tenders.
The helicopters were designed to operate in the harshest weather and environmental conditions in search and rescue, medivac, surveillance, law enforcement, drug interdiction and disaster relief missions.
The state-of-the-art AW139 helicopters were part of a $5 billion investment by the former Patrick Manning administration, as it sought to intensify border and maritime security in the country and within the region. TT's Prime Minister is the lead Caricom Prime Minister for regional security.
The AW139 helicopter contract was coupled with a $1.5 billion contract for three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), to be manufactured by BAE Systems, a reputable UK technology-led defence company. The helicopters were equipped with advanced defence avionics technology with the capability to provide live surveillance video and audio feeds to the OPVs for surface interdiction.
In September 2010, the Minister of National Security informed the Parliament that the cabinet had decided to cancel the contract for the three OPVs, citing delays and technical issues.
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