By Grant Warkentin
A sick passenger was evacuated from a cruise ship returning from Alaska on June 19, thanks to 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron.
The squadron was alerted on Friday, June 19 that an ill passenger needed urgent medical attention. Under the command of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter and a CC-295 Kingfisher aircraft were dispatched from 19 Wing in Comox to assist.
They met the cruise ship approximately 70 kilometers south of the Brooks Peninsula, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC.
The Kingfisher arrived first to coordinate the medevac with the ship’s captain and to provide overwatch for the incoming helicopter. Once the Cormorant arrived, two search and rescue (SAR) technicians were lowered on to the deck of the cruise ship to assume care and prepare the patient for transfer to the hovering helicopter.
The rescue was completed with the patient and SAR technicians hoisted to the helicopter and delivered to hospital in Victoria.
The cruise ship was the MV Royal Princess, returning to Seattle from a cruise north to Alaska.
Video provided by 19 Wing Public Affairs
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