NEW ORLEANS – A Coast Guard aircrew medevaced a 60-year-old-man suffering from signs of decompression sickness from a fishing vessel Friday evening.
Jimmy Richard, 60, was aboard the Heavy Metal approximately 30 miles south of the Atchafalaya River when crewmembers requested Coast Guard assistance at 5:25 p.m.
Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders launched a Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans to conduct the medevac and an HC-144 crew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile to provide additional support. The MH-65 crew arrived on scene at 7:03 p.m. and hoisted Richard.
Richard was taken to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans and transferred by ambulance to West Jefferson Medical Center and was reported in stable condition.