Rockland County EMTs saved more than a dozen people during Sunday's flash flooding
STONY POINT, N.Y. -- Volunteer EMTs helped save more than a dozen hikers during the flood emergency in Rockland County.
On Tuesday, CBS New York learned more about one dramatic and emotional rescue.
The rescue workers saved the lives of two hikers washed off a trail during Sunday's flash flood emergency.
READ MORE: After deadly flash floods, road repairs continue in Orange and Rockland counties
Volunteers with Stony Point Ambulance, Stony Point Fire Department and Thiells Fire Department braved water rushing downhill, at times three feet deep, to reach the top of Perkins Memorial Drive in Bear Mountain State Park and rescue hikers.
"It was honestly like a movie," Stony Point EMS Youth Corps Capt. Vincent Orfini said.
The call came in just before 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
"Potential of two missing and a total of six patients," said Evan Humphrey, Stony Point Ambulance Corps training officer.
Allison Spong, Kenneth Hoyt, Humphrey and 17-year-old Orfini were four of many to answer the call for help.
"We didn't know if we were going to make it up. Fortunately enough, we did," Spong said.
They found four hikers unharmed, but two, a father and his young son, fell victim to flash flooding and got washed off the trail and down the mountain.
"They did potentially fall 50 to 100 feet," Humphrey said.
Another hiker brought the boy up. EMTs believe the father broke his fall.
"The child was carried into my ambulance on the stretcher, very hurt, very injured, very scared," Spong said.
She said she treated him for cuts and shock and continually checked his vitals. Getting to the father, however, was a much more difficult endeavor.
"We did have divers come with us. We did have them set up rope systems to hold on to while we were traversing over waterfalls that were created by the rain," said Hoyt, an EMT with Stony Point Ambulance Corps. "I was just hoping that I didn't get swept away at that point, too."
They placed the father on a Reeves board, brought him up and transferred care. Orfini said his condition was far worse than originally thought.
"He had a broken femur, dislocated knee, broken ankle," he said.
Orfini said they stabilized the father, treated him for cuts and shock, just like his son.
"And the whole time we knew that we had to get him out of there as soon as possible if we were going to save his life," Spong said.
Time was a matter of life and death, but roads were washed out during the rescue. For four hours volunteers administered care until a way down became clear.
"We didn't use our ambulance to get this kid down there. We used a park police pickup truck," Spong said.
Spong sat with the son in the back. The father stayed in the ambulance. Both were taken to Westchester Medical Center.
"This was a situation I've never been in before and for us to be able to put this puzzle like that, I was so proud of us," Spong said.
When asked how it feels knowing he played such a critical role in saving that man's life, Orfini said, "Really, I just try to make my fellow peers and my parents proud."
After rescuing the hikers, the convoy came across Long Mountain Circle and rescued 40 people stranded in their vehicles. The entire operation lasted about seven hours.
