Two Horseback Riders Rescued

Rescue workers were called to the aid of two horseback riders in separate areas outside Grand Teton National Park late Thursday morning, after they were unseated from the horses they were riding and suffered injuries as they hit the ground.  Both calls came in around 11:30 am.  Grand Teton National Park Search and Rescue handled a call in the Pacific Creek Drainage just north of the park where an unidentified Florida woman apparently fell from the horse and suffered unspecified injuries.  She was flown to St. John’s Medical Center for treatment.  At the same time, Teton County Search and Rescue Coordinator Doug Meyer says 56-year-old Joanne Luton or Moran was thrown from her horse in the Mt. Leidy area east of the park.  Since the report indicated it would be about a three hour hike in, Meyer says rescuers called for assistance from the Interagency Fire contract helicopter.  Meyer says the call involved a brief search to find her, and the helicopter was able to land near the incident.  Once the seriousness of her injuries were ascertained, the Flight for Life Helicopter was also dispatched to the scene and landed in the meadow near the park helicopter.  Luton was placed on board that helicopter and taken directly to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.