An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, hoists an ailing cruise ship passenger about 160 miles off the North Carolina coast, May 11, 2018. The crew was notified at 10:30 a.m. that an 83-year-old woman aboard the cruise ship was suffering symptoms of renal failure and needed a medical evacuation. (U.S. Coast Guard video, courtesy of Air Station Elizabeth City/Released)
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced an 83-year-old woman suffering symptoms of renal failure aboard a cruise ship approximately 160 miles southeast of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Friday afternoon.
The captain aboard the cruise ship Anthem of the Seas contacted watchstanders at the Fifth District Command Center in Portsmouth at 10:30 a.m. to request a medical evacuation.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Air Station Elizabeth City launched to assist the ailing passenger.
The helicopter crew hoisted the woman, her family member and a nurse aboard, then transported them to Norfolk Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk.
“Our main priority during emergencies like these is to reach the person as quickly as possible and deliver them to higher care,” said Lt. j.g. Catherine Taylor Pravia, operations unit controller for the case. “Our thoughts are with this patient and her family, and we wish her a speedy recovery.”
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