USCG Helicopter Medevacs Passenger from Cruise Ship

Created by Congress as the Revenue-Marine on 4 August 1790, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States. The Semper Paratus (Always Ready) motto to which the Coast Guard aspires speaks to the outfit’s ethos and the nature of its humanitarian and security missions.

Stated simply, the Coast Guard protects the United States' borders and defends her sovereignty by safeguarding sea lines of communication and commerce across 95,000-miles of U.S. coastline and the entirety of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. This critical work is carried out by 44,500 active-duty personnel, 7,000 reservists, and 8,577 full-time civilian employees. The USCG’s fleet of roughly 250 coastal and ocean-going cutters, patrol ships, buoy tenders, tugs, and icebreakers; as well as nearly two-thousand small boats and specialized craft constitutes the world’s 12th largest naval force. The service’s aviation division comprises north of two-hundred helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft the likes of the AC-37A (Gulfstream V), HC-144A (Airbus CN-235), and Lockheed’s mighty HC-130 Hercules. To supplement the aforementioned and better support its homeland security and search/rescue operations, the Coast Guard is building an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program around General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper platform.

In its humanitarian capacity, the U.S. Coast Guard saves tens-of-thousands of lives every year and provides emergency response and disaster management for all manner of man-made and natural catastrophic incidents.

The latest beneficiary of U.S. Coast Guard valor was a 65-year-old woman who was medically evacuated from a cruise ship plying the waters of Cross Sound, Alaska.

Watchstanders at the USCG’s Juneau Command Center received a call from the medical officer aboard the cruise ship Zuiderdam at approximately 17:00 AKDT on Sunday, 21 August 2022, requesting medevac of a 65-year-old female passenger experiencing loss of vision. Command Center personnel coordinated the launch of an Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew, which arrived on-scene at 19:30 AKDT, but was unable to conduct a hoist due to a dense marine layer [of fog] that reduced visibility to an unsafe level. Sector watchstanders subsequently coordinated an updated rendezvous point in Sitka Sound, where weather conditions had improved. At 22:06 AKDT, the Jayhawk crew conducted the hoist at the Sitka Sound rendezvous point and safely transferred the evacuee to awaiting emergency medical personnel in Sitka.

USCG Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Bitinas stated: "This medevac worked seamlessly because of the coordination between the cruise ship, command center personnel, and helicopter crew. The level of communication and cooperation between all involved helped ensure the patient was safely transferred to the next level of care."

The evacuee was last reported in stable condition.

FMI: www.uscg.mil