Coast Guard conducts complex, long-range medical evacuation 100 miles east of St. Maarten

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico--A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen aircrew carried out a complex, long-range medical evacuation Saturday morning, rescuing a 46-year-old mariner from a commercial vessel approximately 100 nautical miles east of St. Maarten.

The mariner, who was suffering from a rapidly progressing infection, was safely hoisted aboard an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter and transported to Centro Médico Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was transferred for emergency specialized care.

The operation began Wednesday night when Rescue Sub-Center San Juan watchstanders were notified by the master of the M/V Kotka, a 1,083-foot Liberian-flagged container ship, that one of the vessel's crew members was suffering from a severe, non-ambulatory infection that was not responding to medication available aboard the ship.

At the time of the initial notification, the M/V Kotka was located more than 1,300 nautical miles east of the Lesser Antilles, placing the vessel well beyond the operational range of land-based rescue helicopters and several days away from the nearest port.

Faced with the significant distance and the mariner's deteriorating medical condition, Coast Guard search and rescue coordinators developed a phased operation designed to bring the vessel and rescue aircraft within operational range as quickly as possible.

The M/V Kotka increased to maximum transit speed and headed toward a designated rendezvous point east of the Leeward Islands. At the same time, Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen pre-positioned an MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew in St. Maarten on Friday afternoon, significantly reducing the distance the helicopter would have to travel to reach the vessel.

A Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft also departed Miami to support the mission, providing communications relay, navigation assistance and top-cover air escort during the operation.

When the M/V Kotka reached a position approximately 100 nautical miles east of St. Maarten, the Jayhawk aircrew arrived on scene. A Coast Guard rescue swimmer was deployed onto the vessel's deck, where he worked with the ship's crew to prepare the patient before the mariner was safely hoisted aboard the helicopter.

Following the successful hoist, the helicopter crew began the journey across the northeastern Caribbean to Puerto Rico. The aircraft landed at the Base San Juan helipad, where waiting trauma emergency medical personnel received the patient and completed his transfer to Centro Médico Hospital in San Juan.

“This morning was a display of exceptional teamwork by Sector San Juan, several foreign partners, Centro Medico Hospital personnel, and Air Stations Borinquen and Miami to safely transport this mariner patient to a higher level of care,” said Lt. j.g. Haley Goodfellow, Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter copilot for the case.

Capt. Robert E. Stiles, Coast Guard search and rescue mission coordinator for the operation, described the rescue as the result of a coordinated, multi-day effort involving several Coast Guard units and supporting agencies.

“Our team was at its best throughout the complex execution of this multi-day rescue,” Stiles said. “We commend our aircrew for getting the aircraft on scene to rescue a ship’s crew member and get him to a shoreside medical facility for the higher level of care he required. We are hopeful he will make a full recovery. I’m so proud to have the honor of working with the aircrews from Air Station Borinquen and Air Station Miami, as well as our Sector Command Center watchstanders. They are all true search and rescue professionals who make the success of difficult cases like this possible.”

The operation also received support from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations, Puerto Rico Emergency Medical Services, Centro Médico personnel and the shipping agent for the M/V Kotka.

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