Video Release: Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship 55 miles off NC coast

united states coast guard 

Video Release  

Nov. 20, 2017
U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic
Contact: 5th District Public Affairs
Office: (757) 398-6272
After Hours: (757) 434-7712

Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship 55 miles off NC coast

 The Coast Guard medevacs an ailing man from a cruise ship about 55 miles off the North Carolina coast Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, hoisted the man and took him to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Air Station Elizabeth City/Released)

Editors' Note: Click on image to download video.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard medevaced an ailing man from a cruise ship about 55 miles off the North Carolina coast Monday.

Watchstanders in the 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth received a call from the 958-foot, Nassau, Bahamas-flagged Norwegian Dawn at about 6:15 a.m., requesting a medevac for a 56-year-old male passenger experiencing stroke-like symptoms.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and arrived at the cruise ship about 55 miles east of Oregon Inlet.

The crew hoisted the patient, along with his fiance and a nurse, and brought them to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk.

"This was our second medevac from this cruise ship in the past two weeks," said Chief Petty Officer Shannon Brugh, aviation survival technician for the case. "We conducted three hoists in some very challenging winds today. It was a beautiful example of teamwork, coordination and communication among Coast Guard units several hundred miles apart and the crew of the cruise ship to make this happen."
 

-USCG-