Kern County -- On Sunday around 10 a.m., the Kern County Fire Department was dispatched to the Democrat Hot Springs Campground on the Kern River after receiving reports that a man on a hiking trail had suffered a serious knee injury.

The Kern County Fire Department arrived and met with friends of the victim who said the victim was in stable condition approximately 300 yards from the campground.

The area was inaccessible by vehicles and difficult to navigate on foot, the KCFD reported.

The KCFD requested the assistance of the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Rescue Helicopter Air-5, which is equipped with a rescue hoist, to assist with airlifting the patient from his location at the river’s edge to an ambulance at the campground.

The Air-5 crew worked in conjunction with firefighters from the KCFD and the U.S. Forest Service, along with personnel from Care Ambulance to hoist Kevin Johnson, 31, an off-duty Bakersfield City firefighter, to the campground.

Care Ambulance transported Johnson to Kern Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.