Coast Guard conducts long-distance medevac from fishing vessel in Bering Sea
The Coast Guard conducted a medevac of a 43-year-old man from the 238-foot fishing vessel Alaska Juris 150 miles northeast of St. Paul in the Bering Sea Wednesday, USCG news release said.
The Coast Guard command center in Juneau received a request for the medevac from Health Force Partners at 8:42 a.m., reporting that the crewman was suffering from symptoms of a heart attack. The Coast Guard duty flight surgeon was consulted and recommended with the medevac.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Kodiak was launched to respond and hoisted the patient at 4:49 p.m. They arrived safely in St. Paul at 5:41 p.m. and transferred the patient to commercial medevac services who further transported the patient to advanced medical care in Anchorage.
"This case illustrates the importance of our hoist capable aircraft in Alaska and their ability to respond statewide to medical emergencies," said Adam De Rocher, a search and rescue controller at the 17th District command center in Juneau. "This crew flew a distance of more than 500 miles in order to conduct this medevac."