In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, returning guest Josie McKee shares her journey from once needing to be rescued herself to joining Yosemite Search and Rescue—and ultimately using that experience to help save the life of her climbing partner.
McKee’s first encounter with search and rescue came at 17, when she and a friend became lost after skiing out of bounds. With darkness approaching and heavy snow erasing their tracks, they dug a snow cave and waited until ski patrol found them around midnight.
Years later, McKee found herself on the other side of the rescue.
As a member of Yosemite Search and Rescue, she became part of a team responsible for incredibly complex operations on the towering cliffs above Yosemite Valley. She takes us inside rescues involving helicopter insertions, thousands of feet of rope, and teams suspended high on the face of El Capitan.
McKee also shares the night she went from rescuer to victim. While camping in Baja, Mexico, she awakened inside her truck to find a masked man demanding her keys. The violent carjacking left her with a broken clavicle, a stolen vehicle, and the realization that she had narrowly escaped being kidnapped.
The accumulated weight of rescues, recoveries, dangerous climbing incidents, and the attack in Baja eventually began affecting her sleep, climbing, and willingness to respond when her pager sounded. She was experiencing a significant stress injury—even though she did not yet have the words to describe it.
After stepping away from Yosemite Search and Rescue and working with a sports psychologist, McKee slowly found her way back to climbing.
Then, on October 11, 2017, everything changed.
McKee and accomplished climber Quinn Brett were attempting a one-day ascent of The Nose on El Capitan when Brett fell more than 100 feet. McKee watched her friend fall past her and come to rest critically injured and initially unresponsive.
Hundreds of feet above the ground, McKee had to control her emotions, carefully rig a rappel system, reach Brett, establish her airway, stop the bleeding, and coordinate a rescue—all while daylight faded and the afternoon winds continued to build.
What followed became a race against time and weather, with Brett’s life hanging in the balance.
McKee also reveals what happened after the helicopter departed and how the care provided by her former teammates helped her begin processing what she had just witnessed. She explains the principles of psychological first aid and why caring for a responder after a traumatic rescue can be just as important as caring for the patient.
Today, McKee has returned to search and rescue in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains and helps rescuers and other high-risk professionals better understand stress injuries, resilience, and recovery.
This episode is about technical rescue, calculated risk, accumulated trauma, and the moment a climbing partner had to become the rescuer.
Enjoy!
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