From 19 Wing Public Affairs
Featured image: SAR techs prepare the passenger to be airlifted aboard the CH-149 Cormorant. Image from 19 Wing Public Affairs
A cruise ship passenger in medical distress was evacuated from a cruise ship on Saturday, thanks to military search and rescue personnel from 19 Wing Comox.
On September 12, the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, based at 19 Wing in Comox, BC, conducted a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission under the command of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria. The squadron evacuated a passenger in medical distress, a traveling companion, and accompanying medical personnel from a cruise ship sailing 200 kilometers northwest of Port Hardy, BC.
A CH-149 Cormorant helicopter, callsign RSCU 911 and a CC-295 Kingfisher airplane, callsign RSCU 508, were tasked in the pre-dawn hours to respond.
RSCU 508 arrived first to coordinate the medevac with the ship’s captain and to provide over-watch for the incoming RSCU 911 helicopter. Two SAR technicians were lowered from RSCU 911 onto the deck of the cruise ship to assume care and prepare the patient for transfer to the hovering helicopter.
The three from the cruise ship and the SAR Technicians were hoisted aboard the helicopter, which flew to Comox where the patient was transferred from the Cormorant helicopter to Emergency Health Services care.
Quick Facts
Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) Victoria coordinates Search and Rescue operations across British Columbia, the Yukon, and Canada’s Pacific waters. JRCC Victoria is staffed by Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Coast Guard personnel who direct SAR responses and coordinate available resources to assist those in distress.
The RCAF is the primary federal contributor to aeronautical SAR services throughout the country. Under the Command of the RCAF, 442 Squadron alongside other SAR Squadrons and Wings, train and maintain a fleet of aircraft that can be employed within minutes by the three Joint Rescue Coordination Centres across Canada. At times, these Squadrons combined with other federal, provincial and municipal agencies to search for missing or distressed individuals.
442 Transport and Rescue Squadron’s Cormorant and Kingfisher aircraft are JRCC Victoria’s primary means for aviation and marine SAR responses in Search and Rescue Region (SRR) Victoria. These aircraft and their highly trained crews are ready to respond to search and rescue missions on a 24-hour basis.
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