KODIAK, Alaska — Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak personnel medevaced an ailing crewman from a Seattle-based fishing vessel 69 miles southeast of St. Paul Wednesday.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, forwarded deployed to St. Paul from Kodiak, hoisted a 44-year-old man from the 240-foot fishing vessel Starbound and safely transferred the patient to emergency medical personnel at the St. Paul Clinic.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 17th District Command Center in Juneau received the medevac request from Health Force Services at about 12:30 a.m. The fisherman was reportedly suffering from symptoms of a heart attack. Lt. Cmdr. James Landreau, the Coast Guard duty flight surgeon, was consulted and concurred with the need for the medevac, prompting the Coast Guard to launch the rescue helicopter crew from St. Paul.

“When a person has a heart attack, getting the patient to an appropriate level of medical care as soon as possible is crucial,” said Landreau. “The Coast Guard crew available in the St. Paul region last night definitely helped evacuate this patient to a higher level of care and saved his life.”

This is the second maritime medevac conducted by Coast Guard crews based in St. Paul this year. An aircrew medevaced a fisherman suffering seizure symptoms from the 126-foot North Sea, a Seattle-based crab boat, two weeks ago.

The Coast Guard has deployed aircrews to St. Paul from Air Station Kodiak in the winter for more than 10 years in response to increased vessel activity in the region resulting from key Alaska-based fisheries.

Source: USCG