The United States Coast Guard 17th District reported that the, performed three medevacs near Cold Bay this week, two on Monday and one on Wednesday.

On Monday, the crew of an Airstation Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, on the recommendation of a Coast Guard Flight Surgeon, lifted a 21-year-old man aboard the Ocean Peace who was reported to be suffering from seasickness an loss of consciousness at 5 pm.

An hour and a half later, at 6:30 pm, the crew again provided assistance, this time traveling to the location of the Northern Patriot 135 miles north of Cold Bay, in the vicinity of the first lift, and hoisted a 37-year-old crewmember that had suffered a hip injury. 

“We had excellent communication and coordination between the 17^th District command center, the Air Station Kodiak crew and the two fishing vessels,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Luis Fagalnifin, 17^thDistrict command center watchstander. “Our aircrew transported the two men safely to a higher level of medical care thanks to everyone moving with a sense of urgency.” [xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]Then, on Wednesday, at 11:39 am, the MH-60 Jayhawk, flying near Dutch Harbor, diverted and responded to the factory trawler Golden Alaska 75 miles northwest of Cold Bay. Once there, the crew performed a hoist of a 42-year-old crewmember who had suffered a hernia while aboard the vessel. The injured crewmember was transported to Cold Bay where he was transferred to waiting emergency medical personnel, who flew him to Anchorage for further care.

“In this case, we had a helicopter crew nearby which greatly assisted in the quick rescue of the man,” said Lt. Cmdr. Orion Bloom, 17th District command center command duty officer. “We were able to get him to medical providers in Cold Bay within approximately 3 hours from initial notification.” 

  Coast Guard, cold bay, golden alaska, hernia, hip injury, hoist, jayhawk, Kodiak, medevac, mh-60, northern patriot, ocean peace, seasickness