Coast Guard hoists hypothermic hiker Craig Berg off Isle Royale

Craig Berg, a 70-year-old hiker from Royal Oak, Michigan, was found alive but injured and hypothermic on Isle Royale on Sept. 12, seven days after he went missing, and a Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted him off the island to emergency medical crews waiting in Gwinn.

The Coast Guard and Michigan State Police rescued an injured, ailing man Saturday after he went missing in Isle Royale National Park on Sept. 5.

An MH-60 Jayhawk crew from Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City lifted Berg from the island and flew him to Marquette Regional Airport in Gwinn, according to the Coast Guard's news release. Emergency medical personnel took him from there to a local hospital. Good Samaritan backpackers spotted Berg first, and Michigan State Police troopers and K-9 units then reached him on the ground.

What hypothermia does to the body

Hypothermia sets in when the body's core temperature falls below 95 degrees Fahrenheit, impairing the normal functions of the heart and the nervous system, among other organs, and it can lead to death if it is not treated, The Detroit News reported. Neither the Coast Guard nor the Michigan State Police released Berg's temperature when he was found, or said how long he had been hypothermic.

The low temperature recorded in Isle Royale National Park was 48 degrees on Sept. 6, Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, and in the 50s or low 60s on the other days Berg was missing, according to timeanddate.com figures cited by The Detroit News. Those are readings for the park as a whole.

We are extremely grateful we were able to get Mr. Berg safely off the island and deliver him to the medical care he needed.

Janson is the command duty officer at the Coast Guard's Sector Northern Great Lakes command center, NBC News reported. She also called the rescue a testament to teamwork and to what can be accomplished when first responders and members of the community come together.

Spotted by other backpackers

Fox News, citing officials, reported that good Samaritan backpackers spotted Berg in the park on Saturday before Michigan State Police foot patrols and K-9 units reached him. The park's Facebook page said he was alive and alert after being found by backpackers, WLUC reported, and described him as a downstate man who had been missing since Sept. 5.

The day before, a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Portage and a helicopter crew from Air Station Traverse City carried troopers and K-9 units across Lake Superior to the island, the Coast Guard said. The rescue followed those Sept. 11 search efforts.

Drones and seaplanes were among the resources deployed, along with the 45-foot Coast Guard boat, Fox News reported, citing officials. The park's own website lists drones among the equipment generally prohibited on the island.

Video released by the Coast Guard shows rescuers lowering a basket from the helicopter and Berg being hoisted into the cabin, with one rescuer heard saying the patient was inside, The Detroit News reported. Fox News reported that he was taken to the airport in Gwinn for emergency medical evaluation.

The ferry he never boarded

Berg arrived at the park on Aug. 27 for an extended solo hike and failed to return home on Sept. 5, the Detroit Free Press reported. He had been scheduled to leave the island that day aboard the Ranger III ferry, and his family reported him missing the next day when he did not arrive.

Berg's son, Evan Berg, told WDIV Detroit that his father became lost and lost his cellphone and his wallet in a marsh, and that he spent days trying to find other people. The Coast Guard's release does not describe how Berg became lost.

He's able to speak. He asked for food and water. We're just so grateful, and we couldn't be more happy and relieved.

Evan Berg said he was ecstatic during a phone interview with WLUC on Saturday evening, the day his father was found. He thanked the National Park Service, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan State Police and the everyday people who joined the search.

The National Park Service thanked the employees and partners who helped during the search, according to the post on the park's Facebook page.

Help hours or days away

In its visitor safety guidance, the National Park Service warns that cellphone service on Isle Royale is unreliable and that help can be hours or days away, even when visitors successfully contact rangers.

Berg's wife, Debbie, told the Detroit Free Press that only two rangers are stationed on the island and that the park has two camp stores and a lodge. Isle Royale sits in Lake Superior near the Canadian border and is one of the least-visited national parks, with limited infrastructure, Fox News reported.

Who joined the search

In a statement released after the rescue, Michigan State Police Lt. Ben Eckola, the public information officer for the department's Eighth District, listed the agencies that took part. They included the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Park Service, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Keweenaw County Sheriff's Office, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Eckola also thanked the fellow hikers who helped, Isle Royale Seaplanes and No One Left Behind K9 Search and Rescue, and said everyone's efforts played an important part in finding Berg.

What has not been released

Officials did not disclose what happened to Berg during the week he was gone or give additional detail about his injuries, Fox News reported. The releases issued by the Coast Guard and the Michigan State Police do not name the hospital that treated him, The National Park Service said Monday that he was found at Intermediate Lake, more than a mile from established hiking trails.

ABC News reported that further information about Berg's condition and the circumstances of his disappearance was not immediately available. The only public description of how he spent the week has come from his family, and the agencies that searched for him have not given an account of their own.

His family's initial report was that he had not returned home as planned, WLUC reported. The Coast Guard's public account of the operation begins with the Sept. 11 transport and the rescue the next day.

What is publicly known about Berg's recovery has come from his family. His son told WLUC on Saturday evening that his father was in rough shape but all right.

Recovering, details not released

The Detroit News reported that Berg was recovering on Monday and that further details about his condition and his disappearance had not been released.