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| News Release |
Date: March. 1, 2008
Contact: Petty Officer Nick Ameen |
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Coast Guard Medevacs Two People From Cruise Ship ***Video Available*** Editors Note: Video will be availabe at the Air Station Miami security gate, 14750 NW 44th Court, Opa Locka, Fla., 33054. MIAMI -- The Coast Guard medically evacuated an 88-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman from the Holland America cruise ship Westerdam about 80 miles south of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at about 10 p.m. Friday. Search-and-rescue coordinators at the Coast Guard District Seven command center in Miami received a telephone call from a Westerdam crewmember around 3:45 p.m. Friday stating two passengers were in need of medical care. A Coast Guard flight surgeon reviewed the cases and determined an immediate medical evacuation of both patients was necessary. Coast Guard Air Station Miami immediately launched an HU-25 Falcon jet crew and an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew in response to the call. The Dolphin crew hoisted the man and the woman from the Westerdam around 9:45 p.m. and landed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, where the man was transferred to the base hospital and the woman was transferred to the Falcon jet. The Falcon crew took off from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, around midnight and landed at Air Station Miami at 2 a.m., where emergency medical services personnel were waiting to transfer the woman to Jackson Memorial Hospital. "We're the busiest search-and-rescue unit in the Coast Guard," said Lt. j.g. Chris Barnes, a Falcon pilot at Air Station Miami. "We stand a 24-hour watch for this purpose and we're glad to have the chance to use our resources to save lives." ###
Saving lives since 1790 -- the United States Coast Guard |
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