Woman Rescued After Accidentally Going Over Rainbow Falls

The Hawai‘i Fire Department received a report at 1:47 p.m. on June 7, 2019, about a woman at Rainbow Falls, sitting on the northern bank of the pond, out of the water.

First responders arrived on the scene at 1:55 p.m. to find a woman in her 20s who apparently went over the falls and fell into the water below. 

She was able to get to the river bank. 

One HFC rescue specialist entered the water, swam to her and conducted a patient assessment. 

A second fire rescue specialist was flown to the patient on a long line with a litter. 

Once loaded into the litter, the patient and the fire rescue specialist were airlifted to the landing zone. 

The patient was immediately transferred to a waiting ambulance, treated and transported to Hilo Medical Center. 

The second fire rescue specialist was extracted from the river bank with a Billy Pugh net.