A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew forward deployed to Cordova medevaced a 76-year-old woman experiencing heart attack symptoms from the cruise ship Star Princess, near Cape Hinchinbrook, Alaska, on Friday, June 9.
The aircrew hoisted the woman and the cruise ship’s medical specialist and transported them to Cordova where they were transferred to Guardian Flight. Guardian Flight transported the woman and medical specialist to Anchorage for higher care.
Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders received a report from the crew of the Star Princess, a 949-foot cruise ship, that the woman suffered a possible heart attack. Watchstanders consulted the duty flight surgeon and requested the launch of the Jayhawk crew.
“The FOL in Cordova allows crews to quickly respond to emergencies in the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound,” said PO 1 Michael Taylor, a Sector Anchorage watchstander. “Working with Guardian Flight, we were able to quickly transfer the woman so she could receive higher medical care.”
FOL Cordova consists of a Kodiak-based MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter with supporting air, ground and communications crews.
The weather on scene was reported as 26-mile-per-hour winds and two-foot seas.
