Coast Guard aircrew medevacs 42-year-old woman off fishing vessel near Noyes Island, Alaska

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka medevacs an injured 42-year-old woman off a fishing vessel north of Noyes Island, Alaska, July 18, 2019. The woman had suffered a head injury while working aboard the fishing vessel Western Cruiser in the water west of the island. U.S. Coast Guard video courtesy Air Station Sitka.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley (archive).

JUNEAU, Alaska — A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a 42-year-old woman off a fishing vessel near Noyes Island, Thursday.

The MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka transported her to Sitka where they transferred the woman to waiting emergency medical service personnel, who took her to Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital for further care.

Around 11:40 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received a call from Craig City Harbormaster staff, who stated a member of the crew was bleeding and in an out of consciousness after a blunt object impacted her head.

The Jayhawk crew was already airborne and was diverted based on new information.

A Craig City Harbormaster crew also responded aboard a 25-foot boat and met the crew of the Western Cruiser near Cape Ulitka on the north end of Noyes Island, followed shortly after by the Jayhawk crew.

“A harbormaster had gotten there before us and dropped off an EMT,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Eckstein, rescue swimmer on the response. “So he had a chance to look her over and the bleeding was under control at that point.”

Eckstein evaluated her, and with her stable condition combined with fuel constraints the aircrew elected to conduct a basket hoist.

“Overall it was a very smooth hoist, and the crew members on board were very welcoming and helped out,” said Eckstein. “The crew assisted in getting her over to the basket and one of the crew members assisted with the trail line.”

After she was hoisted, the aircrew did a bear hook recovery of Eckstein and made the approximately hour long transit to Sitka.

-USCG-

Coast Guard medevacs man from cruise ship in Glacier Bay, Alaska

The Coast Guard medevacs a man experiencing symptoms of kidney failure aboard a cruise ship in Glacier Bay, Alaska, July 4, 2019. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka hoisted the 69-year-old man from the Norwegian Bliss in Johns Hopkins Inlet and brought him to Juneau where he was placed in the care of a Capital City Fire and Rescue crew. U.S. Coast Guard video by Air Station Sitka.

JUNEAU, Alaska​ — The Coast Guard medevaced a man experiencing symptoms of kidney failure aboard a cruise ship in Glacier Bay, Thursday.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Sitka hoisted the 69-year-old man from the cruise ship Norwegian Bliss in Johns Hopkins Inlet and brought him to Juneau where he was placed in the care of a Capital City Fire and Rescue crew.

Watchstanders at Air Station Sitka received the initial request for the medevac from the Norwegian Bliss at about 10:45 a.m.

“Thanks to the cooperation among all the dedicated professionals aboard Norwegian Bliss, at Capital City Fire and Rescue, and our own watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center and back at the air station, we were able to provide a seamless medevac and get this man to the medical care he needed in Juneau,” said Lt. Kellen Browne, co-pilot for the case.

MH-60 Jayhawk AIRSTA Sitka, U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class David Paquin (archive).

​

-USCG-

Coast Guard assists Alaska State Troopers to search for missing 74-year-old man near Haines

MH-60 Jayhawk ©USCG (archive)

KODIAK, Alaska – Two Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrews, Alaska State Troopers personnel, a canine search team, and two ground teams are searching for a 74-year-old man in a heavily wooded area approximately 28 miles northwest of Haines, Alaska, Sunday.

Coast Guard aircrews and three canine search teams from Skagway, Juneau and the local Haines area are searching by air and land to saturate the wooded area he is suspected to be in. He is reported to have been last seen at his residence at 10:30 a.m., wearing jeans and a blue and white long sleeve button–down shirt, Friday.

His vehicle was located, parked and unoccupied, on a remote road at 6 p.m., Saturday. The man has no reported medical issues or mental instability.

Saturday night, at approximately 9:31 p.m., District 17 command center watchstanders received an agency assist from Alaska State Troopers for a helicopter assist due to the inability of local ground searchers to access the heavily wooded area after sunset. District 17 command center directed the launch of an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew to conduct the search. The Jayhawk aircrew conducted a one hour search utilizing night vision goggles, forward-looking infrared radar, and a spot light. A secondary flight was conducted Sunday afternoon.

“This case exemplifies the abilities of the federal, state and local agencies to seamlessly coordinate efforts to execute search and rescue,” said Lt. Daniel Piazza, the District 17 command center command duty officer. “We will continue working tirelessly as a team to search for this man in efforts to get him home.”

Weather on scene was 10 miles visibility and an air temperature of 54 degrees.

-USCG-

Coast Guard medevacs man from tugboat in Chatham Strait, Alaska

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter crew medevaced a man from the 83-foot tugboat Maia H 30 miles east of Sitka, Alaska, in the Chatham Strait, May 9, 2018. The aircrew hoisted the man from the tugboat and safely transferred him to awaiting emergency medical personnel in Sitka for further medical care.
U.S. Coast Guard video by Air Station Sitka.

KODIAK, Alaska - A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter crew medevaced a man from an 83-foot tugboat Wednesday morning in Chatham Strait, Alaska.

An Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted a 61-year-old man from the tugboat Maia H 34 miles east of Sitka.

After the aircrew hoisted the man from the Maia H, they transferred him safely to awaiting emergency medical personnel in Sitka for further medical care.

Coast Guard Sector Juneau watchstanders received notification from the Maia H’s crew reporting that the captain was experiencing possible symptoms of a stroke. A flight surgeon for the 17th Coast Guard District recommended a medevac, and Sector Juneau watchstanders directed the launch of an Air Station Sitka helicopter crew.

“The tugboat’s crew was monitoring the captain’s vitals, and they did a great job to get the man positioned for the hoist,” said Petty Officer 3^rd Class Tyler Sojka, an aviation survival technician at Air Station Sitka, who assisted with the hoist. “It was an efficient hoist, and we were able to get the man to EMS quickly.”

Weather at the time of the hoist was 25-mph winds with 2-foot seas.

-USCG-