Coast Guard medevacs child from cruise ship over 200 miles offshore

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter hoists a 7-year-old girl, a parent and a nurse from the Cruise Ship Celebrity Summit Monday, July 8, 2019, from over 200 miles east of Virginia, medevacing her to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk. The cruise ship contacted the Coast Guard to request assistance with a girl who was experiencing abdominal pain while enroute from New Jersey to Bermuda. U.S. Coast Guard video.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- A Coast Guard helicopter crew flew to the rescue for a 7-year-old girl aboard the Cruise Ship Celebrity Summit Monday, medevacing her to a hospital in Virginia for higher level care.

The cruise ship contacted the Coast Guard to request assistance with a girl who was experiencing abdominal pain while enroute from New Jersey to Bermuda. The 5th District flight surgeon determined that she needed a medical evacuation and the command center dispatched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

The girl, a parent and ship’s nurse were transported to the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk.

“Good communication between the cruise ship, aircrew and Coast Guard command centers in New York and Portsmouth allowed us to get this child the help she needed,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Kelly Badal, a watchstander in the 5th District Command Center.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Auxiliarist David Lau (archive).

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Coast Guard suspends search for missing man near Oregon Inlet, NC

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Auxiliarist David Lau/Released (archive).

WILMINGTON, N.C. — The Coast Guard and other federal, state and local agencies searched throughout the day Wednesday, for a missing 60-year-old man near the Bonner Bridge. The Coast Guard suspended their search Wednesday night, after saturating the search area with multiple assets and other agencies.​

The girlfriend of the man told Dare County 911 that he had gone out on a boogie board to swim in the inlet Wednesday morning, but he did not return. Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet boat crews were launched alongside an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City. A Coast Guard crew found his boogie board located against a span of the bridge.

Coast Guard crews worked alongside Dare County, North Carolina Parks Service, Cape Hatteras National Seashore park rangers and North Carolina Marine Patrol.

"It's especially busy as we begin the 4th of July weekend and it's very important to be mindful of your environment and wear your life jacket as you head out on the water," said Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Dempsey, a search and rescue coordinator at the Coast Guard's 5th District in Portsmouth, Virginia. "In the region, there have been at least six deaths of people not wearing life jackets in the past week."

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Coast Guard, Virginia Marine Resources Commission crews medevac ailing man near Jamesville, Va.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, hoists an ailing 44-year-old man from a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Milford Haven in Hudgins, Virginia, in the Chesapeake Bay near Nassawadox Creek, June 29, 2019. The Coast Guard crews teamed up with a Virginia Marine Resources Commission boat crew to medevac the man after he started feeling too ill to navigate his sailboat and called for help. (U.S. Coast Guard video courtesy, Air Station Elizabeth City).

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Coast Guard crews partnered with a Virginia Marine Resources Commission boat crew to medevac an ailing 44-year-old man aboard a sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay Saturday morning.

Watchstanders at the Sector Hampton Roads command center in Portsmouth received a phone call around 8 a.m. from a man aboard the 30-foot sailing vessel Thumper who said he was ill and struggling to navigate and anchor his vessel near Nassawadox Creek.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Milford Haven in Hudgins and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, launched to assist. The VMRC also dispatched a boat crew to the scene.

Once on scene, the helicopter crew lowered their rescue swimmer, who swam to the sailboat and helped transfer the ailing man to the VMRC’s vessel. The VMRC crew brought the man to the RB-M, which served as a hoisting platform for the Jayhawk crew.

After hoisting the man, the aircrew brought him to Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital in Onancock.

“The shallowness of the water created a challenging environment for our boat crew, but working with the VMRC enabled us to help this mariner quickly and efficiently,” said Jerry Besecker, operations unit controller with the Sector Hampton Roads command center. “Our local partnerships are invaluable for this reason: through teamwork, we can help more people.”

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronald Hodges (archive).

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