Video: USCG Medevac off North Carolina

The US Coast Guard released a video of one of the more challenging medical evacuations carried out by one of its helicopter teams on July 17. The helicopter crew was challenged to conduct the evac from the front of the vessel due to its design versus their normal strategy of coming in from the stern of the vessel.

“We generally hoist from the back of a vessel, but because of a lack of suitable space for hoisting operations we had to hoist from the front,” said Lt. j.g. Marissa Bonnefin, the MH-60 Jayhawk copilot. The pilots noted that it essentially put the helicopter in a flying position that is unfamiliar to routine operations.  

 

 

The U.S. Coast Guard Fifth District command center received notification that a man aboard the 49,722 dwt product tanker CL Yingdu required immediate medical attention. The vessel departed the New York area on July 16 and was approximately 223 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras on Saturday. July 17.

The vessel reported that the crew member was suffering from an eye injury. The command center consulted with a U.S. Coast Guard flight surgeon who recommended medical evacuation. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules aircraft from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City were dispatched. 

The MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew arrived on the scene and deployed a rescue swimmer to conduct a hoist and medevac the injured crew member. The patient was transferred to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia for treatment.