SAN PEDRO, Calif. — “It was an amazing thing to watch,” says Hector Baldarama. “To see how they take someone who is sick off a ship and to know it can be done is great.”
The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 66-year-old woman from a cruise ship approximately 280 miles south of the U.S. and Mexico maritime boundary Friday.
At 7:12 a.m., Coast Guard watchstanders received a notification from a crew member aboard the Koningsdam, a Holland America Line cruise ship, requesting a medevac for a 66-year-old woman experiencing symptoms of a stroke.
A Coast Guard Air Station San Diego MH-60 Dolphin helicopter crew and Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento C-27 crew launched to assist. The two aircrews arrived at the Koningsdam, where the crew from Air Station Sacramento coordinated communications, and the crew from Air Station San Diego hoisted the patient aboard the helicopter.
“Rescues like this are exactly what our crews train for,” said Lt. Brady Stepan, pilot, Air Station San Diego. “Through coordination from the command center and outstanding support from our C-27 cover aircraft crew, we were able to get the patient to higher-level care.”
The helicopter crew transported the patient to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla in San Diego, where she was reported to be stable.
