MEDIA RELEASE

HONOLULU — Two U.S. Coast Guard air crews medically evacuated an ill crewmember Wednesday, Feb. 4 from the deck of a cargo vessel 80 nautical miles east of Hilo to Honolulu.

The Coast Guard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) received a call from the master of the motor vessel Luo Ba He concerning a 57-year-old male crewmember suffering from severe abdominal pain.

The ill man was hoisted aboard an HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter and transported to an awaiting Coast Guard C-130 long range search plane from a position 80 nautical miles offshore to Hilo International Airport.

The patient was flown to Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu and transported via City and County of Honolulu Emergency Medical Services ambulance to The Queen’s Medical Center.

The HH-65 crew included a rescue swimmer who was deployed to the deck of the cargo vessel with a rescue basket and then hoisted back aboard with the patient. A Coast Guard physican’s assistant tended to the man on the C-130 flight to Honolulu.

The patient was further stabilized by Honolulu EMS.

“This is a great example of the Coast Guard partnering with county resources to ensure this crewmember got medical care as quickly as possible,” said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Seth Haynes, a search and rescue controller in Honolulu.