ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Coast Guard medevaced a 50-year-old man from the 150-foot fishing vessel Pavlof near Cold Bay, Wednesday night.
A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak, forward deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Munro, conducted the hoist approximately 55 miles northwest of Cold Bay and flew the man to the Cold Bay Clinic for subsequent transport to Anchorage by commercial medevac services.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard 17th District command center in Juneau were notified of the man’s injury by the crew of the Pavlof. It was reported he was suffering from a staph infection, and the watchstanders consulted the duty flight surgeon who recommended the medevac.
“This case highlights the value of our hoist capable helicopters deployed aboard Coast Guard cutters patrolling the Bering Sea and North Pacific,” said Lt. Cmdr. Doug Watson of the Coast Guard 17th District response management department. “Alaska Patrol assets, such as our Dolphin crews, are able to respond quickly to medical cases involving mariners aboard vessels engaged in the busy fisheries of Western Alaska and get them to the advanced care they need.”
The Coast Guard maintains a medium or high endurance cutter, equipped with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, in the Bering Sea throughout the year to serve as a search and rescue and fisheries enforcement asset. The Munro is a high endurance cutter homeported in Kodiak.
Weather conditions at the time of the medevac were reportedly 17 mph winds with 2-foot seas. The Pavlof is homeported in Seattle.
Source: USCG
