Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship near Hinchinbrook, Alaska

 

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska Contact: 17th District Public Affairs Office: (907) 487-5700 After Hours: (907) 227-9248 17th District online newsroom

Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship near Hinchinbrook, Alaska  

 

KODIAK, Alaska – The Coast Guard medevaced a 68-year-old man from the cruise ship Nieuw Amsterdam, approximately 12 nautical miles south of Hinchinbrook, Alaska, Saturday.

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew arrived on scene at approximately 1:09 p.m., hoisted the patient and staff nurse, and transported them to awaiting EMS in Whittier, Alaska.

Watchstanders from the Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center received a report at approximately 10:51 a.m. from the cruise ship crew, that a passenger was experiencing abdominal pain. Watchstanders dispatched the helicopter aircrew who arrived on scene and hoisted the patient and staff nurse.

“We received the call at approximately 10:51 a.m. Saturday,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Elias Hopper, Sector Anchorage  operation unit controller. “The Coast Guard duty flight surgeon was in conversation with the ship’s medical personnel about the patient’s condition, and determined that placing him in an elevated level of care was best, despite the risks associated with hoisting a patient from a cruise ship."

*No imagery is available from the medevac.

-USCG-