Fentress County emergency officials urging ginseng hunters to establish detailed safety plans and carry essential supplies during the current harvest season.
Fentress County Ambulance Service EMS Chief Daniel Coleman said digging the root continues through December 31. Coleman said the local landscape presents significant obstacles for rescue crews including steep hillsides, rock formations, and thick vegetation that can isolate hunters far from the nearest roadway.
“Our woods here in Fentress County, we have a bunch of rugged terrain that includes steep hillsides, some cliffs, rock formations, along with very thick vegetation, creeks and banks, along with limited cell service,” Coleman said. “And there’s a lot of places in Fentress County that you can get long distances from the roadways and that creates significant challenges when someone becomes lost, injured, or they should experience a medical condition once they get in the woods.”
Coleman said many rescue calls originate from hunters who misjudge daylight hours and find themselves stranded in the dark without a flashlight.
He said medical emergencies often involve dehydration or pre-existing conditions like diabetes that are exacerbated when hunters fail to eat properly or take their medication while in the woods.
“A lot of times we see that ginseng diggers will misread the daylight, and it will become dark quicker on them than they realize it,” Coleman said. “So when they go into the woods, they don’t have flashlights, or they’re ill-prepared, and they take and it goes dark, their cell phone battery goes dead, so they lose all their light.”
Coleman said hunters should provide family members with a specific return time and a photograph of the clothing they are wearing before heading out. He said it is also vital to research property boundaries and landmarks using satellite images or maps to avoid becoming disoriented in unfamiliar areas.
“The single most important thing that I would love for ginseng diggers to provide is a plan,” Coleman said. “A plan to their family, that way if an incident occurs, that family member can reach out and say here’s their plan, this is what they’re wearing, this is the items that they have with them, are they prepared.”
Coleman said anyone who becomes lost or injured should call 911 immediately and then remain in that exact spot to allow rescuers to track their location. He said moving after making the call makes it harder for teams to find the individual because the initial GPS ping will no longer be accurate.
“Once you disconnect from them, try to stay at that location, okay,” Coleman said. “Understand that search, fire, rescue, all of us are on the way. However, if you start moving after you call 911, then your location is no longer where you have pinged at on the 911 system.”
Coleman said Fentress County crews have already responded to two ginseng-related search and rescue incidents since the start of September. He said these operations can last up to eight hours because teams often have to carry heavy rope systems into the woods to reach people who have fallen over bluffs or steep embankments.
“We don’t want our rescuers to get injured, so it takes us a little bit longer to get people out if nightfall falls upon us,” Coleman said.
Coleman said hunters are legally required to obtain permission from landowners before collecting wild ginseng on any private property.