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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Coast Guard airlifts ill man from cruise ship 100 miles off Oahu


Advertiser Staff

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Barbers Point yesterday airlifted an ill 63-year-old man from the cruise ship Carnival Spirit 100 miles off Oahu.

Events began to unfold Saturday afternoon, when the 11th Coast Guard District Command Center in Alameda, Calif., received a distress call from the 959-foot cruise ship.
The Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center, located here, was contacted Saturday night after the cruise ship's doctor reported the man's condition was deteriorating.
JRCC watch standers placed the cruise ship on a firm communications schedule. The ship's doctor reported Sunday afternoon that the man needed vital medication because the ship's supply was running low.
An Air Station Barbers Point C-130 long-range search plane air dropped the medication to the cruise ship 200 miles northeast of Oahu at 12:30 p.m. yesterday.
When the cruise ship was 100 miles off Oahu, an HH-65 rescue helicopter crew medically evacuated the man via a rescue basket at 5:40 p.m.
The man was taken to Tripler Army Medical Center.
Coast Guard video of the medical supply drop is available at
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=662824