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Paramedics say a 72-year-old woman is lucky to have been found after she spent two days stranded at the bottom of a 10-metre embankment in a Cairns conservation park.
Key points:
- A 72-year-old woman spent at least two days stranded at the bottom of a walking trail in Cairns
- Emergency services said the dense terrain meant she was unlikely to have been found had passers-by not heard her
- Paramedics have urged walkers to let people know when they expected to return from hikes
The woman, understood to have been in Far North Queensland on holiday, was rescued from dense bushland near the Green Arrow walking track on Mount Whitfield Thursday night.
The alarm was only raised when other walkers heard her calls for help on Thursday afternoon and called triple zero.
"I'm surprised the people walking past heard her, to be honest, with where she was located," critical care paramedic Nathan Cutler said.
"Because this isn't an established walking track, I'd hazard a guess she would not have [otherwise] been found."
Mr Cutler said the woman was "very relieved" after she was found her in the "dense scrub".
"With all of our gear, it was obviously quite a labour-intensive effort [to get there]," he said.
"The ground was giving way as we were walking on it and the embankment she was walking on was difficult to navigate, even for emergency services.
"I don't think the patient had much chance of getting out of there of her own accord."
Stranded 'at least two days'
It took more than two hours for crews to find the woman, who paramedics believe slipped down the embankment after leaving the marked walking trail.
Due to difficult terrain and fading light, she was unable to be winched out and crews had to make their way through the forest to extract her.
"We believe she was down there for at least two days," said Jay Nevins, Queensland Ambulance Service's (QAS) acting senior operations supervisor for the far northern region.
Mr Nevins said the woman had some food and water with her but was showing signs of exposure.
Heavy rain had fallen in recent days across Cairns.
"It's a good reminder for us all, preparation is the key to safety," Mr Nevins said.
"Having communication devices, having our food and water, clothing, protection from the weather and having someone know when you're due back."
The woman was taken to Cairns Hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries.
There are four marked walking trails in the Mount Whitfield Conservation Park, ranging from 1.5 kilometres return to 6km return.
A QAS crew, a rescue helicopter, two Queensland Fire and Emergency Services crews and State Emergency Service staff were involved in the rescue effort.