| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Seventh District |
|
|
| Press Release |
Date: Contact: |
|
COAST GUARD CONDUCTED MEDEVAC 260 MILES FROM KEY WEST, DELIVERED BURNED CREWMEMBERS TO TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL CLEARWATER, Fla. - Coast Guard crews from a C-130 Hercules airplane and an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Clearwater conducted a medevac of two crewmembers off a tanker located 260 miles west-southwest of Key West, Fla., last night. The injured were burned while fighting a fire that broke out in the engine room of the 576-foot long chemical tanker Scarlet Ibis while it was transiting from Houston, Texas, to Cristobal, Panama. The Coast Guard was notified of the emergency at approximately 4:15 yesterday afternoon and immediately diverted an airborne C-130 to the vessel's location. The Jayhawk helicopter launched from Clearwater and refueled in Key West before proceeding to the tanker. The patients were originally planned to be taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, but the helicopters fuel status and location of the hoist made a transfer to Tampa, Fla., the best option. The helicopter crew safely hoisted the two people off the ship at approximately 10 p.m. and headed to Tampa General Hospital. A Coast Guard physician's assistant on board was able to administer CPR to one of the crewmembers whose condition was deteriorating until the helicpoter arrived at the hospital at about 12:20 a.m. today. While at the hospital, one of the two Filipino men, Freddy Jose Chica, 26, passed away. The other man, Marchon Nelson, 33, was listed in stable condition. The Scarlet Ibis is operational and is currently continuing its transit to Panama. Editor's note - Video of the hoist is available at the guard shack of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater. Crews involved in the case left work this morning and therefore will not be available for interviews. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
printer friendly