KODIAK, Alaska — A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, forward deployed in Cold Bay, Alaska, medevaced an injured mariner off the 116-foot fishing vessel Unimak 55 miles north of Cold Bay, Friday.
The Jayhawk crew safely hoisted the 45-year-old man and transferred him to awaiting medical services at Cold Bay Clinic for transport to a higher level of health care in Anchorage.
Coast Guard 17th District command center watchstanders received a call from Health Force Partners that the mariner aboard Unimak was suffering from an injury incurred while loading items aboard the vessel two days ago. The duty flight surgeon recommended the medevac due to the possibility of his condition worsening.
“There are limited resources available when you are in that part of Alaska,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Brent Flanick, 17th District command center watchstander. “The captain of the Unimak wisely used his resources to contact us and provided us information on their location and the patient’s condition, allowing us to efficiently get the patient to the advanced medical care he needed.”
Weather on scene was reported as raining, 37 degrees, 8-foot waves, and 2 mile visibility.