PORTSMOUTH, VA. — Coast Guard medevaced an injured man 50 miles east of Chincoteague, Va., March 26.
According to a release, watchstanders at 5th District command center in Portsmouth received an Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) alert from the 75-foot trawler Capt Nathan with three people aboard.
Watchstanders diverted the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter 270-foot-long Escanaba and an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Atlantic City to the scene. The crew of the Escanaba established communications with the crew and discovered the captain was suffering symptoms of a stroke.
The helicopter crew arrived on scene and hoisted the man and transferred him to Cape May Airport where another helicopter crew from Air Station Atlantic City transferred the patient to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, N.J.
“The quick actions and critical thinking of all Coast Guard units and the crew of the fishing boat resulted in locating the mariner and bringing him to the medical care he needed as quickly as possible,” stated Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Watford, search and rescue controller at 5th District. “Cases like this prove why mariner’s should keep a properly registered EPIRB onboard their vessel.”
