North Shore Health Ambulance performs rescue by moonlight on Kelly Lake in BWCAW
North Shore Health Ambulance services performed a rescue in the remote area of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The call came in on May 15 at 7 p.m., with the rescue finishing at 3 a.m. the following morning.
A member of a group canoeing through the Boundary Waters suffered a heat-related emergency on a day when temperatures were reaching 90 degrees in the sunlight. After being notified of the call, paramedic Eric Bjugstad and EMT Garret Lima canoed out to Kelly Lake to perform the extraction.
Kelly Lake is located in the Tofte District of the Boundary Waters, southwest of Brule Lake. The remote location of the lake led to an eight-hour rescue operation conducted by moonlight.
“They said the name of the lake at the time, and I didn’t quite register where it was,” Bjugstad told WTIP. “But then I looked it up on my map on my phone, and I realized how far we’re gonna be going in. And the first thing I did was I called Garrett right off the bat, and I said, ‘Hey, Garrett, just take a couple extra minutes and make sure you have enough stuff, because we’re gonna be out here for hours.’”
Lima said, “We lucked out that it was a full moon, and it was really, really calm during the first half of the rescue. And I mean, if it wasn’t for the fact that we had to paddle in and find somebody who was having a medical emergency, it would have been a very, very nice night.”
The rescue was assisted by Search and Rescue as well as the Forest Service, who provided the canoes and logistics, making the rescue possible.
“I really want to just kind of plug our partners over at Cook County Search and Rescue, Dennis Terry and Beth Ambrose, and they were a great help that night,” Bjugstad said.
Once out of the Boundary Waters, the individual was flown to a regional medical facility, where they could recover.
The Kelly Lake rescue highlights the importance of preparation and having a way to contact emergency services when entering the Boundary Waters. The people rescued on Kelly Lake used a GPS tracking system to communicate with Lima and Bjugstad during the rescue.
“We’re more than happy to go out and get canceled on something. But what I really just kind of don’t like is when somebody waits and waits and waits to try to improve and then they just continue to decline. That’s kind of my biggest thing,” Bjugstad said.
“Always plan out further than you think, and for longer than you think,” Lima said. “There’s not really an excuse anymore not to have a GPS system on you.”
Accidents and tragedies can strike in the Boundary Waters and the Kelly Lake rescue is not the first time North Shore Health responders have had to paddle into the Boundary Waters. In June 2023, North Shore Health Ambulance responded to a call on Beth Lake in the BWCAW where crews canoed across two portages and three lakes.
WTIP spoke with Eric Bjugstad, Garrett Lima, and Karla Pankow, Director of EMS. The audio of that interview can be found below.
Josh Hinke June 2, 2025
