He Parachutes to His Patients
Parachuting into a tree top in the Rockies to reach a needy patient is a very ticklish way of making a medical call. But Amos Little '39 actually welcomes such hazardous jumps as a change from the office routine of his general practice and surgery duties in a Helena, Montana clinic, a recent Coronet feature reveals.
Little, who went to Johns Hopkins after Dartmouth, picked up this unique way of dropping in on his patients when he was trained by the U. S. Army to be one of the first "paradoctors." Attached to the Search and Rescue Section of the Second Air Force, he made repeated daring jumps and saved many lives for the Army in the western mountains from 1943 to 1946.
His first nonpractice jump in June, 1944, was a spectacular leap landing at 11,000 ft. altitude on Crowns Point peak in "Hell's Half-Acre," Colorado, after buffeting tricky winds and falling from a tree. He then struggled through deep snow to bring food and medical aid to the survivors of a bomber crash. For this, Little was awarded the Air Medal, and he was also decorated for "exceptionally meritorious conduct" upon discharge.
The future that he envisioned for aerial rescue work when he was still in uniform is now being made by Little himself. Coronet calls him "Jumping Doctor of the Rockies" and tells a genuine adventure story. Appointed as official doctor of Region I by the Forest Service, Little stands by ready to jump to the aid of any injured fire fighter in the wildest timberland in the U. S.
Small, 140-pound Little resembles the original Rocket Man when he is fully rigged with back pack, emergency chute, coiled rope, football helmet, and wire face mask. He drops his 85-pound medical kit first by a smaller parachute and then follows.
His rescue of a critically wounded Idaho deer hunter not long ago on a narrow ledge of mountain rock was a test of sheer nerve. The hunter would have died before help on foot or other conventional means could have reached him.
The former Mary Russell that her physician-surgeon husband can take care of himself. He has more than 50 jumps to his credit and is more determined than ever that the sick or injured in isolated spots should not have to die because medical aid cannot reach them quickly enough.
On the tamer side, Little holds the presi dency of the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association. In the state of Montana where the Littles and their three children live, he is particularly trying to help de velop skiing as a sport.
